
aass_tj_18 
Book J 



* orSCo 



HISTORY 

OF 

THE UNITED STATES, 

FROM THEIR 

FIRST SETTLEMENT AS COLONIES, 

TO THE 

CESSION OF FLORIDA, 

IN EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND TWENTY-ONE: 

COMPRISING, 

EVERY IMPORTANT POLITICAL EVENT | 

WITH 
A PROGRESSIVE VIEW 

OF 

THE ABORIGiyES; POPtTLATTON, HELTOTON, AOnTCtTLTtJnE, ASTD COM" 
3rKRCE; OF THE AUTS, SCIENCES, AXD UTERATTTRE ; OCCASIONAL 
BIOGRAPHIES OF THE MOST HEMAIIKABLE COLONISTS, WRI- 
TERS AND PHILOSOPHERS, WARRIORS AND STATESMEN ; 

AND 

A COPIOUS ALPHABETICAL 



BY WILLIAM GRIMSH^ 

Author of a History of England^ &c. 
THIRD EDITION. 







PHILADELPBIA , J 
PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR, 

ST LTDIA R. BAILET. 

1822. 



E ASTER JV JD I STRICT OF PEJ\/WSYLVAJVIJ, to wit: 

BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the twenty-seventh day 
(L. S.) of August, in the forty-sixth year of the Independence of 
the United States of America, A. D. 1821, William Gbim- 
SHAW, of the said District, hath deposited in this Office the Title of 
a Book, the right whereof he claims as Author, in the words follow- 
ing, to Tffit : 

" History of the United States, from their first settlement as Colo- 
** nies, to the Cession of Florida, in eighteen hundred and twenty- 
*' one ; comprising every important political event ; with a progres- 
" sive view of the Aborigines ; Population, Religion, Agriculture, 
" and Commerce ; of the Arts, Sciences, and Literature ; occasional 
" Biographies of the most remarkable Colonists, Writers and Philo- 
" sophers, Warriors and Statesmen ; and a copious Alphabetical In- 
<* dex. By William Gbimshaw, Author of a History of England, &c." 

In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, in- 
tituled, " An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the 
copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of 
such copies, during the times therein mentioned." And also to the 
Act, entitled, " An Act supplementary to An Act, entitled, 'An Act 
for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, 
charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, 
during the times therein mentioned,' and extending the benefits 
thereof to the arts of designing, engi*aving-, and etching historical 
and other prints." 

D. CALDWELL, Clerk of the 

Eastern District of Pennsylvatiia. 






TO 



THE AMERICAN ACADEMY 



OF 



LANGUAGE AND BELLES LETTRES. 



THIS 



BRIEF HISTORY 



OF 



THE UNITED STATES 

IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, BY 

THE AUTHOR. 



*^^ Accompanying this Edition, there is 
a small book of Historical Questions, for the 
use of Schools. 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE UNITED STATES. 



CHAPTER I. 

Rejlections. Imfirovements in Astronomy^ JVavigation^ and 
Geography, Voyages of Columbus. 

ALTHOUGH the period of man's residence in this sub- 
lunary world is much curtailed, his amount of happiness 
is increased. Providence has more than compensated the 
diminution of his years, by the extension of his knowledge. 
His mental faculties are no longer engrossed by the mere 
operations of his body. His mind now ranges with delight 
over the cultivated field ^f science. His acquaintance with 
distant regions is enlarged ; he goes abroad to indulge his 
curiosity, or makes an ideal excursion to amuse his imagi- 
nation. 

The exploring of the deeply hidden nature of the ele- 
ments, has not been more tardy than our advances in ge- 
ography. It is true, that the Chaldeans and the Egyptians, 
at a time even beyond the most ancient records of authen- 
tic history, had marked the revolutions of the heavenly bod- 
ies, with a degree of industry and success, not less worthy 
of admiration than difficult of comprehension, when we 
contemplate their scanty apparatus ; and, that during the 
refined ages, many centuries before the Christian era, the 
latter, or perhaps the Greeks, had discovered the form, and 
the dimensions, of this globe, with a geometrical exactness 
approaching nearly to the truth ; yet, their ideas concern- 
ing distant countries were extremely defective and per- 
plexed. On this subject, their theories were, in general, 
absurd, and tended to restrain inquiry ; thus, strengthening 



6 HISTORY OF 

the maxim, that conscious ignorance is less injurious than 
dogmatical error. 

About six centuries before Christ, Pythagoras of Samos 
became acquainted with the learning of Egypt, and diffus- 
ed his observations throughout Greece and Italy. He 
taught, that the sun was the centre of the universe, that 
the earth was round, that people had antipodes, and that 
the moon reflected the rays of the sun ; a system deemed 
chimerical, until the philosophy and deep inquiries of the 
sixteenth century proved it to be incontestible and true. 
Philolaus, who flourished about a century afterwards, pro- 
ceeded a step further in astronomy. Embracing the doc- 
trine of Pythagoras, he asserted the annual motion of the 
earth around the sun ; and, only a short time had elapsed, 
when its diurnal revolution on its own axis was promul- 
gated by Hicetas, a Syracusan. Nearly at the same time, 
Meton and Euctemon made improvements in the science 
at Athens ; and, subsequently, in various parts, Eudoxus 
and Calippus, Aristarchus, Eratosthenes, Archimedes, and 
Hipparchus; the last of whom, about one hundred and for- 
ty years before our era, ascertained the latitudes and longi- 
tudes of more than one thousand of the fixed stars, and en- 
riched astronomy with many other valuable discoveries. 
In our first century, Ptolemy, an Egyptian, formed a theo- 
ry, which, although erroneous, was followed by all nations 
for many ages. He composed, in the Greek language, a 
great work, called the Almagest, containing his own and 
the observations of his most illustrious predecessors. This 
record, saved from the destruction of the Alexandrine 
library, when burned by the Saracens in the seventh cen- 
tury, was translated into Arabic in the ninth, and by the 
emperor Frederic, into Latin, in the thirteenth ; and thus 
"Were the acquirements in astronomy happily preserved, and 
extensively diff*used. 

From the latter period, until the discovery of America, 
the science was cherished by many distinguished philoso- 
phers, — Alphonso, king of Castile, Roger Bacon, an Eng- 
lish monk, Purbach, and Muller. The latter, a native of 
Xo^ningsberg, who died in 1476, invented several instru- 
ments useful in navigation ; amongst which, was an armil- 
lary astrolabe, resembling one formerly used by Hipparchus 
and Ptolemy at Alexandria ; with which, and a good time- 
piece, he made many observations. 

Enabled by this preliminary sketch, to appreciate more 
fully the efforts of the different navigators in extending the 



THE UNITED STATES. Z 

sphere of commercial enterprise, we shall review, with ad- 
ditional pleasure, their adventures, from the earliest ac- 
counts, to the accomplishment of the great undertaking, 
which gave, to what is denominated the old world, a know- 
ledge of the new. 

To the desire of riches, may chiefly be assigned our en- 
larged acquaintance with the globe which we inhabit. The 
ancients were not less eager than the moderns in the pur- 
suit of wealth ; but their progress was unaided by the faith- 
ful and constant guide, which now directs the mariner, dur- 
ing the darkness of the night, or the gloomy horrors of the 
tempest. Though acquainted with the property of the 
magnet, by which it attracts iron, its more important and 
amazing quality, of pointing to the poles, had entirely es- 
caped their notice. Their navigation was therefore timid 
and uncertain. They seldom dared to sail beyond the sight 
of land ; but crept along the coast, exposed to every dan- 
ger, and retarded by innumerable obstructions. 

The Sidonians and Tyrians were more enterprising than 
any other people of antiquity. Astronomy, on its decline 
in Chaldea and Egypt, having passed into Phenicia, those 
people applied it to navigation ; steering by the north polar 
star: and, hence, became masters of the sea, and almost of 
the whole commerce of the world. Their ships frequented 
not only all the ports in the Mediterranean, but were the 
first that ventured beyond the strait of Gades, now called 
Gibraltar, or that visited the western coasts of Africa and 
Spain. At the same time, having obtained several com- 
miodious harbours towards the bottom of the Arabian Gulf, 
they established, after the manner of the Egyptians, a regu- 
lar intercourse with Arabia and the continent of India, on 
the one hand, and with the coast of Africa, on the other ; 
from which countries, they imported many valuable com- 
modities, and, for a long while, engrossed that lucrative 
trade without a rival. They landed their cargoes at Elath, 
the safest harbour in the Red Sea, towards the north. 
Thence, they carried them, by land, to Rhinocolura on the 
Mediterranean, re-shipped them, and transported them to 
Tyre ; and the vast wealth which the Phenicians had ac- 
quired by this monopoly, incited the Jews, under David 
and Solomon, to pursue a similar trade. Carthage, a colo- 
ny of Tyre, applied to naval affairs, with unremitting ar- 
dour, ingenuity, and success. It early rivaled and sur- 
passed the parent state in opulence and power. Without 
contending with the mother country, for the trade of the 



g HISTORY OF 

east, the Carthaginians directed their attention towards the 
west and north ; and, following the course ah'eady opened, 
passed the strait of Gades, visited not only all the coasts 
of Spain and Gaul, but reached the more distant shores of 
Britain. Yet, they were not satisfied: they were the more 
eagerly stimulated by the extent of their discoveries. They 
carried their researches to the south. Stretching along 
the western coast of Africa, they sailed almost to the tropic 
of Cancer ; planted several colonies, in order to civilize the 
natives and accustom them to commerce, and discovered 
the Fortunate Islands, now known by the name of the Ca- 
naries ; the utmost boundary of ancient navigation in the 
western ocean. 

Curiosity, as well as commercial avidity, induced them 
to continue their researches. To those motives, were ow- 
ing the famous voyages of Hanno and Himilco. Their 
fleets were equipped by authority of the senate, and at the 
public expense. Proceeding towards the south, Hanno ad- 
vanced much nearer to the equinoctial line, than any former 
navigator ; and Himilco explored the western coasts of 
Europe. Of the same nature, was the extraordinary voy- 
age of the Phenicians around Africa. A Phenician fleet, 
prepared by Necho, king of Egypt, sailed, we are told, 
about six -hundred years before the Christian era, from a 
port in the Red Sea, passed the southern promontory of 
Africa, (now called the Cape of Good Hope,) and, after a 
voyage of three years, arrived by the strait of Gades, at the 
Nile. Unfortunately, the particulars of those navigations 
were not communicated to the rest of mankind. All au- 
thentic memorials respecting the great naval skill of the 
Phenicians and Carthaginians, seem, in a great measure, 
to have perished, when the maritime power of the former 
was annihilated by Alexander, and the empire of the latter 
was overturned by the Roman arms. 

The states of Greece pursued scarcely any commerce 
beyond the confines of the Mediterranean. Their ignorance 
of geography is almost incredible to us. But their know- 
ledge was much enlarged by Alexander's expedition to the 
east. Nor were the Romans less remarkable for their in- 
attention to that science. In the history of the Roman 
empire, hardly one event occurs, evincing a regard to geo- 
graphical inquiry or navigation, further than it was con- 
nected with the desire of conquest. Indeed, there prevail- 
ed, amongst the ancients, an opinion, which conveys a 
striking idea of the small progress made by them in the 



THE UNITED STATES. 9 

knowledge of the habitable globe. They supposed, that 
the earth was divided into five regions ; whichsthey distin- 
guished by the name of zones. Two of these, one at the 
north, the other at the south pole, they termed frigid ; 
believing, that the extreme cold which reigned perpetually 
in both, was destructive to animal life. Another, which 
was seated under the line, and extended on each side to- 
Avards the tropics, they called the torrid zone ; imagining 
it to be so burned up with unremitting heat, as to be equal- 
ly destitute of inhabitants. To the other two regions, they 
gave the appellation of temperate ; and taught that these, 
being the only situations in which life could possibly sub- 
sist, were assigned to man for his habitation. Wild, as 
seems this opinion at the present day, it was adopted, as a 
system, by the most enlightened philosophers, and the most 
accurate historians, of Greece and Rome. Promulgated 
by so respectable authority, that extravagant theory served 
to render their ignorance perpetual ; as it represented all 
attempts to open a communication with distant regions of 
the earth, impracticable and hopeless. Even the small de- 
gree of accurate geographical knowledge, which those peo- 
ple had occasionally obtained, was almost entirely lost, on 
the fall of the Roman empire. The various nations of the 
north, who, in the fifth century, settled in the different 
provinces, were unacquainted with regular government or 
laws; strangers to letters, destitute of arts, ignorant of their 
use, unambitious of their acquirement. No intercourse 
existed even amongst themselves. Constantinople, how- 
ever, was so fortunate as to escape their destructive rage. 
There, the ancient arts and discoveries were preserved, 
and commerce continued to flourish, when almost extinct 
in every other part of Europe. 

At length, the rude tribes in Italy having- acquired some 
idea of regular government, and some relish for the modes 
of civil life, Europe gradually recovered from its degrada- 
tion. The Italian merchants, notwithstanding the violent 
antipathy, which, as Christians, they possessed against the 
followers of Mahomet, repaired to Alexandria, and estab- 
lished with that port a lucrative trade. The commercial 
spirit of Italy became active and enterprising. Venice, 
Genoa, and Pisa, rose from inconsiderable towns, to be 
wealthy and. populous. Their naval power increased ; they 
visited the sea-ports of Spain, France, the Low Countries, 
and England ; and infused a taste for the alluring produc- 
tions of the East. 



10 HISTORY OF 

The crusades served greatly to hasten the mercantile 
progress of the Italians. The martial inclination of the 
Europeans, impelled by religious zeal, and inflamed by su- 
perstition, having prompted them to attempt the deliver- 

. ance of the Holy Land from the dominion of the In- 

fidels, vast armies, composed of all the nations in 
Europe, marched upon this wild enterprise towards Asia. 
The Italian sea-ports furnished the necessary shipping and 
military stores ; for which, immense sums were received. 
Venice, in particular, advanced in commerce, power, and 
riches. Nor did their employers make those expensive and 
disastrous voyages without future benefit. They became 
familiar with distant regions, which, before, they knew only 
by name, or by the reports of credulous pilgrims ; and as- 
certained the arts, manners, and productions, of nations 
more polished than themselves. 

That intercourse subsisted for nearly two-hundred years ; 
during which period, many individuals were induced, by a 
different motive of religion, to penetrate the East, far be- 
yond the countries entered by the crusaders. After these, 
followed several illustrious travellers, incited either by the 
hope of riches or a pure spirit of inquiry. Of the former 
passion, the most distinguished votary was Marco Polo, a 

. - nobleman of Venice : of the latter, sir John Mande- 
ville, of England ; who returned, after an absence of 
more than thirty years, and published an account of his 
observations. 

Whilst this inclination towards research was gradually 
increasing, a discovery was made, the wonderful property 
of the magnet, which communicates to iron a tendency of 
pointing to the north, that had greater influence on naviga- 
tion than all the efforts of preceding ages. The precise 
era of this discovery cannot be ascertained. It is generally 
attributed to Gioia, a Neapolitan, and dated in the year 
1302 : but the supposition appears erroneous. The earliest 
notice with which we are acquainted, is by a French writer, 
Guyot de Provins ; who, in a poem written about the year 
1 1 80, plainly alludes to the magnetic needle being then in 
common use. The Historia Orientalis, of Vitriacus, who 
had made many voyages by sea, and published that work 
about forty years subsequent to the former; the writings of 
Vicentius, at the same period, and many other authorities; 
coincide in establishing its previous introduction, and, con- 
sequently, in depriving the Neapolitan of any honour, fur- 
ther than for having increased its utility, by fixing it on a 



THE UNITED STATES. II 

pivot, and enclosing it in a box.* Seamen were now enabled 
to abandon their timid course along the shore, and fearlessly 
to launch into the wide bosom of the ocean. The first ap- 
pearance of increasing confidence, may be dated from the 
voyages of the Spaniards to the Canary islands. These, 
which, we have already mentioned, had been visited by the 
Carthaginians, were again discovered by that people : but 
the genius of naval enterprise was not at this period fully 
roused ; as navigation seems not to have advanced, then, 
beyond the limits which circumscribed it before the down- 
fal of the Roman empire. 

The era at length arrived, when man was allowed to pass 
the boundary within which he had been so long confined. 
The next considerable effort was made by the seamen of 
Portugal. In 1420, they sailed to Madeira ; (to which, they 
were directed by its accidental discovery by an English- 
man ;) about forty years from that date, they discovered the 
Cape de Verd islands ; and soon afterwards, the Azores, 
situated in the Atlantic, nine-hundred miles from any con- 
tinent. When prosecuting their researches along the shores 
. _ of Africa, they ventured to cross the equinoctial 
line; equally pleased and astonished, on finding that 
region not only habitable, but populous and fertile. This 
occurred in the reign of Alphonso. His son, John the sec- 
ond, possessed talents, capable both of forming great de- 
signs and carrying them into execution. Patronised and 
aided by this indefatigable monarch, the examination and 
colonizing of the African continent became ardent and 
unremitting. As they advanced towards the south, the 
Portuguese found, that, instead of extending, according 
to the doctrine of Ptolemy, it appeared to contract, its 
breadth, towards the east. This unexpected discovery was 
not unprofitably made. It induced them to credit the an- 
cient Phenician voyages around Africa, which had long 
been deemed fabulous ; and led them to conceive hopes, 
that, by following the same track, they might arrive at the 
East Indies, and engross, for a while, a traffic, which had 

* " Valde necessarius est acns navigantibus marl," says Vitriacus: 
— the needle is very necessary to seamen. " Cum enim," observes 
Vicentius, *' vias suas ad portum dirigere nesciunt, cacumen acus ad 
adamantem lapidem fricalum, per transversum in festuca parva infi- 
gunl, et vasi pleno aquae immittunt :" — For, when they ('he naviga- 
tors,) know not how lo find their way into a harbour, they fix the 
point of a needle, rubbed upon a hard stone, crosswise in a piece of 
wood, and place it in a sniall vessel full of water. 



12 HISTORY OF 

always been so eagerly desired. The attainment of this 
object was entrusted to Bartholomew Diaz ; an experienced 
officer, distinguished alike for his sagacity, fortitude, and 
perseverance. After advancing a thousand miles farther 
than any of his predecessors, exposed to violent tempests, 
mutinies, and famine, he at last beheld that lofty 
promontory which terminates Africa on the south. 
But, to behold it, was all that he could accomplish. The 
violence of the winds, the shattered condition of his ships, 
and turbulent spirit of his men, compelled him to return. 

Diaz had called that promontory the Stormy Cape ; but 
the king, now entertaining a sanguine expectation of having 
found the long desired route to India, gave it a more ap- 
propriate name. The Cape of Good Hope. 

The vast length of this voyage, with the furious storms 
which Diaz had encountered, so alarmed and intimidated 
the Portuguese, that some time was requisite to prepare 
their minds for the prosecution of their great design. In 
the interval, an event occurred, no less extraordinary than 
unexpected, unparalleled in the annals of naval enterprise — 
the discovery of a new continent, situated in the west. 

The honour of accomplishing an exploit so sublime, was 
gained by Christopher Columbus. This great man, a nat- 
ive of Genoa, descended from a respectable family, was 
well qualified, by nature and education, to become distin- 
guished on the ocean. Ardently inclined towards that ele- 
ment, he went to sea at the age of fourteen ; and, in a few 
years, visited the coast of Iceland, (then frequented by the 
English on account of its fishery,) and advanced several 
degrees within the polar circle. After a variety of adven- 
tures, serving more to enlarge his knowledge than to in- 
crease his fortune, he went to Lisbon ; a city in which 
there lived many of his countrymen, and where, having 
married a Portuguese lady, he fixed his residence. This 
alliance did not lessen his early attachment to the sea. It 
fortunately contributed to enlarge his naval information, 
and excite a desire of still further extending it. His wife 
was a daughter of Perestrello ; one of the captains employ- 
ed by the Portuguese in their former navigations, and who 
had first carried them to Madeira. Columbus got posses- 
sion of his journals ; the study of which inflamed his fa- 
vourite passion, and rendered irresistible his impatience to 
visit the several countries which Perestrello had described. 
He accordingly made a voyage to Madeira; and continued, 
during many years, to trade with the Canaries, the Azores, 



THE UNITED STATES. 13 

the coast of Guinea, and all the other places discovered by 
the Portuguese on the continent of Africa. 

At that period, the great object of the Portuguese, as al- 
ready narrated, was to find a passage to the East Indies. 
But they searched for it only by steering towards the south ; 
in hopes of accomplishing their wishes by turaing to the 
east, when they had reached the southern extremity of Af- 
rica ; a course of so great extent, that a voyage from Eu- 
rope to India must have appeared to them equally arduous 
and uncertain. Stimulated by this reflection, the active 
mind of Columbus, after attentively comparing the obser- 
vations of modern pilots with the conjectures of the an- 
cients, at last concluded, that, by sailing directly to the 
west, across the Atlantic Ocean, new countries, which it 
was likely formed a part of the great continent of Asia, 
must infallibly be discovered. The spherical figure of the 
earth was known ; its magnitude ascertained with some de- 
gree of accuracy : and sir John Mandeville had already, 
from astronomical demonstration, asserted, that it might 
be circumnavigated. It was evident, that the continents 
of Europe, Asia, and Africa, formed but a small portion of 
the terraqueous globe. It seemed rational, that the vast, 
unexplored space, was not entirely covered by water, but 
was occupied, in some measure, by countries fit for the re- 
sidence of man. These deductions did not rest merely on 
conjecture. Although the offspring of scientific theory, 
they were supported by recent observations. Timber, ar- 
tificially carved, driven by a westerly wind, was seen float- 
ing at an unusual distance in the ocean : to the west of the 
Madeira isles, there had been found another piece, fashion- 
ed in the same manner, brought by the same wind ; and 
canes, of enormous size, resembling those described by 
Ptolemy, as peculiar to the Indies. Trees were frequently 
driven upon the Azores ; and, at one time, the dead bodies 
of two men, with singular features, not corresponding with 
the inhabitants of Europe, Africa, or Asia. 

Fully satisfied with the truth of his system, Columbus 
was impatient to bring it to the test of experiment. The 
first step towards this, was to secure the patronage of some 
considerable power. As long absence had not lessened his 
aff'ection for his native country, he wished that Genoa should 
reap the fruits of his ingenuity and labour ; and, according- 
ly, laid his scheme before the senate. But he had resided 
so long abroad, that his countrymen were unacquainted with 
his character ; and, not being able to form any just idea of 
2 



i4 HISTORY OF 

the principles upon which he founded his hopes of success^ 
they rejected his proposals, as the dream of a chimerical 
projector. 

Columbus had now performed a natural duty; a conduct, 
which, though it does not form the grandest, is certainly 
one of the most amiable, features in his history ; and must 
be admired, whilst there is a mind clear enough to discern, 
or a heart sufficiently warm to conceive, an act of gene- 
rosity. 

He was not discouraged by this repulse. Instead of re- 
linquishing his undertaking, he pursued it with increasing 
ardour. He made his next overture to the king of Portu- 
gal ; in whose dominions, he had long resided; and whom 
he considered, on that account, as having the second claim 
to his services. John listened to his proposals, and appoint- 
ed three eminent cosmographers to examine the merits of 
his plan. But these men, after drawing from Columbus all 
the information that treachery could devise, or their capa- 
cities understand, basely conspired to rob the ingenious 
seaman of his expected glory ; and the king adopted their 
perfidious counsel. The pilot, however, chosen to execute 
the fraud, was no less deficient in courage, than were his 
employers in dignity and justice. He returned to Lisbon, 
execrating the project as extravagant and dangerous. 

Disgusted by this transaction, Columbus resolved to break 
off all intercourse with a nation capable of so flagrant treach- 
ery. He instantly went to Spain, that he might lay his 
plan before Ferdinand and Isabella. But, he wisely increas- 
ed the chances of success, by sending his brother Bartholo- 
mew into England, to negotiate with Henry the seventh ; 
who was reported to be one of the most sagacious and opu- 
lent princes of the age. 

Though Spain was then engaged in a serious contest with 
Granada, the last of the Moorish kingdoms in that country, 
yet, Ferdinand and his queen paid so much regard to Co- 
lumbus, as to submit the consideration of his plan to a con- 
fidential minister. To enumerate all the objections offered 
to his scheme, or describe, in appropriate language, the 
firmness with which the philosophic stranger combated his 
successive disappointments, would neither be conformable 
with our design, nor within the compass of our ability. 
Some asserted, that he would find the ocean of infinite ex- 
tent ; others, that, if he persisted in steering to the west, 
beyond a certain point, the convex figure of the earth would 
prevent his return; and, that it was absurd to attempt open- 



THE UNITED STATES. i'S 

mg a communication between the two opposite hemi- 
spheres, which nature had for ever disjoined. 

But the total expulsion of the Moors produced a happy 
change in the disposition of the Spanish court, and excited, 
still farther, the vigilant and generous patrons of Colum- 
bus, — Quintanclla, and Santangel ; who took advantage of 
this joyful situation of affairs, to press, once more, the so- 
licitations of their friend. Their effort was successful. 
Though Ferdinand was still restrained by his characteristic 
caution and reserve, Isabella, alive to the glory which must 
accrue from the accomplishment of so grand an enterprise ; 
and, if historians be correct, anxious to spread the know- 
ledge of the Christian religion ; declared her resolution of 
employing Columbus ; and, regretting the low state of her 
finances, offered to pledge her jewels, in order to complete 
the preparations for the voyage. A measure so humiliat- 
ing to a feeling mind, was, however, fortunately prevented. 
Transported with gratitude and admiration, Santangel kiss- 
ed Isabella's hand, and engaged to advance, immediately, 
the necessary sum. 
. .Q^ On the 17th of April, more than seven years from 
the date of his first application, an agreement with 
Columbus was concluded. The ships, of which he was to 
have the command, were fitted out at Palos ; a small town 
in the province of Andalusia. But the armament was not 
suitable, either to the rank of the nation by which it was 
equipped, or to the important service for which it was in- 
tended. It consisted only of three vessels. The largest, 
of inconsiderable burthen, called the Santa Maria, was com- 
manded by Columbus, as admiral ; the second, named the 
Pinta, not superior in size to a large boat, by Martin Pin- 
zon ; and the third, of similar dimensions, called the Nigna, 
by Vincent Pinzon, a brother of the latter. The whole 
were victualled for twelve months, and provided with ninety- 
men. 

On the 3d of August, Columbus set sail. He steered 
directly for the Canary islands ; and, having refitted his 
crazy vessels, departed from Gomera, on the 6th day of 
September. Holding his course due v/est, he left the usual 
track of navigation, and stretched boldly into seas unfre- 
quented and unknown. His sailors, alarmed at the dis- 
tance which they had proceeded without finding the ex- 
pected land, began to mutiny^ threatened to throw him 
overboard, and placed him in a situation, in which any other 
mail would have vtelded to their entreaties to return. But 



16 HISTORY OF 

he still maintained his accustomed serenity and resolution. 
Fertile in expedients, possessing a thorough knowledge of 
mankind, an insinuating address, and the talent of govern- 
ing the minds of others, he promised solemnly to his men, 
that, provided they would obey his commands for three days 
longer, and that, in the meantime, land were not discover- 
ed, he would comply with their request. 

Columbus did not hazard much, by confining himself to 
a period so short. For some days before, the sounding line 
had reached the bottom, and brought up soil which indicat- 
ed land to be at no great distance. The flocks of birds 
increased, and contained many of a description supposed 
not to fly far from shore. A cane was observed, that seem- 
ed to have been recently cut ; and a branch of a tree, with 
fresh berries. The clouds around the sun assumed a new 
appearance ; the air was more mild, and, during the night, 
the wind became unequal and variable. Each succeeding 
hour confirmed Columbus in his opinion of being near land. 
On the evening of the 1 1th of October, he ordered the sails 
to be furled, the ships to lie to, and a strict watch to be kept, 
to guard against the danger of running ashore in the night; 
an interval of suspense and expectation, dviring which all 
remained on deck, intently gazing towards that quarter 
where they hoped to discover the interesting object of their 
wishes. 

The period at length an'ived. Columbus observed a 
light, which seejued to be carried from place to place; and, 
a little after midnight, there was heard from the Pinta the 
joyful cry of Land ! 

When morning dawned, an island was seen, about two 
leagues to the north, presenting the aspect of a delightful 
country. All the boats were immediately manned and 
armed. The Spaniards rowed towards the shore, with their 
colours displayed, with martial music, and all the dazzling 
insignia of military pomp. As they approached the beach, 
they saw it covered with a multitude of people, whose atti- 
tudes and gestures expressed wonder and amazement. 
Columbus was the first who set foot on this new world 
which he had discovered. His men followed ; and all 
kneeling, kissed the ground that they had long desired, but 
expected never to behold : he then erected a crucifix, re- 
turned thanks to God, and, with the usual formalities, took 
possession of the country. 

To this island, called by the natives Guanahani, Co- 
lumbus gave the name of St, Salvador. It is one of that 



THE UNITED STATES. 17 

hirgc cluster, called the Lucaya or Bahama isles ; situated 
above three -thousand miles to the west, but only four de- 
grees to the south, of Gomera ; so little had he deviated 
from his intended course. 

After discovering several other islands, amongst which 
were Cuba and Hayti, (the latter named by Columbus, 
Hispaniola,) the shattered condition of his vessels, and the 
general eagerness of his seamen to return to their native 
country, constrained him to make preparations for his de- 
parture. He did not, however, neglect using every pre- 
caution to secure the benefit of a first discovery. With 
the consent of the cazique or sovereign of the district, he 
erected a fort in Hispaniola : in which, he left a party of 
his men ; and, on the 4th of January, sailed for Europe ; 
140" where he arrived, after experiencing dangers and 
fatigues which required all his skill and fortitude to 
surmount. 

Various conjectures were formed respecting these newly 
discovered countries. Columbus adhered to his original 
opinion, that they were part of those vast regions of Asia, 
comprehended under the general name of India. From 
their productions, this idea seemed correct. Gold was 
known to abound in India; a metal of which he had obtain- 
ed samples so promising, as led him to believe that rich 
mines of it would be found. Cotton, another production of 
the Indies, was common there. The pimento of the islands 
he imagined was a species of the India pepper. The birds 
brought home by him were adorned with the brilliant plu- 
mage which distinguishes those of India : the alligator of the 
one, seemed to be the crocodile of the other. This idea of 
Columbus, the Spaniards and the other nations of Europe 
have adopted. The name of Indies was given to them by 
Ferdinand and Isabella, in a ratification of the former agree- 
ment with the illustrious discoverer ; and, even after the 
error which gave rise to that opinion was detected, the 
name of West Indies has remained, and the aborigines are 
called Indians. 

In his third voyage, Columbus reached the conti- 
nent, and landed in several places on the coast of 
those provinces now known by the name of Paria and Cu- 
mana. But he was deprived of the honour of associating 
his name with this vast portion of the earth. Amongst the 
officers, who, in the following year, accompanied Ojeda, to 
explore still farther these new regions, was Amerigo Ves- 
pucci, a gentleman of Florence; who, a« he was an experi- 



18 HISTORY OF 

enced seaman, acquired so great authority amongst lii* 
companions, that they willingly yielded to him the super- 
intendence of the voyage. The crafty Florentine made an 
extraordinary use of his situation. Soon after his return 
to Spain, he transmitted an account of his adventures to 
one of his own countrymen ; so ingeniously framed, as to 
make it appear that he had the glory of first discovering 
the continent of the new world. His narrative was drawn 
not only with art, but with elegance. It contained an 
amusing history of his voyage, and judicious observations 
on the natural productions, the inhabitants, and customs, of 
the places which he had visited. His description was the 
first given to the public. It circulated rapidly, and was 
read with admiration. The country, of which Amerigo 
was supposed to be the discoverer, gradually received his 
name, or a modification of it ; an error, which the caprice 
of mankind has continued. 

In the summary view, which, previous to our entering 
on the voyages of Columbus, was given, of the gradual pro- 
gress of discovery in the eastern hemisphere, we last allud- 
ed to the advance of Diaz within sight of the great south- 
ern cape of Africa. Rather stimulated than depressed by 
the amazing issue of the patronage which they had denied 
Columbus, the Portuguese attentively pursued their fa^ 
vourite object. Their endeavours were successful. On 
the 20th of November, in the year 1497, Vasco de Gama, 
employed by the king of Portugal, " doubled" that cele- 
brated promontory, and, in the month of May following, 
arrived at Calicut, on the coast of Malabar. 

Twenty-three years after that great event, Magellan, a 
native of Portugal, in the service of Spain, penetrated into 
the Pacific ocean, by the strait which bears his name, situ- 
ated at the southern extremity of the American continent; 
thus, opening a new route to the East Indies, and developing 
a vast region of water, interspersed with beautiful and fer- 
tile islands. 

It seems, that it was only by accident, England had not 
gained that renown which accrued to Spain, the fortunate 
employer of the persevering Genoese. In his voyage 
thither, Bartholomew Columbus was captured by pirates ; 
who, having entirely robbed him, detained him a prisoner 
for many years. When, at length, he arrived in London, 
his indigence was so great, that he was obliged to employ 
himself, during a considerable time, in drawing and selling 
maps, as a means of raising money sufficient to purchase a 



THE UNITED STATES. 19 

decent dress, in which to appear at court. He was there 
treated with merited respect. Notwithstanding the exces- 
sive caution of Henry the seventh, he received the over- 
tures of Columbus with more attention than any monarch 
to whom they had been before presented, and invited him 
to England. But it was then too late. The achievement 
was already accomplished. Bartholomew, in his return, 
was informed, at Paris, of the issue of his brother's voyage; 
an event not less exhilarating than unexpected. 



CHAPTER II. 

JSfeivfoundland discovered by Cabot. Abortive attempts to 
settle Roa7ioke, by Sir Walter Raleigh. 

THE English were the second people that ventured to 
the new world, and the first that discovered the continent 
of America. Two years had not elapsed, after the consum- 
mation of the great navigator's hopes, when Giovanni Ga- 
boto, (or Cabot,) a Venetian who had settled in Bristol, and 
his three sons, were commissioned, by Henry the seventh, 
to sail in quest of unknown countries, and endeavour to 
reach India by a western course ; agreeably to the system 
of Columbus, which the former had adopted. Accordingly, 
the father and his second son, Sebastian, were despatched 
from that city, the place of the latter's nativity, on board a 
ship furnished by the king, accompanied by four small 
barks provided by the merchants. Sebastian, for it was he 
who had the direction of the voyage, conjectured, that by 
steering farther to the north, he might reach India, by a 
shorter course than that chosen by Columbus. On the 
24th of June, 1497, he discovered a large island, to which 
he gave the name of Prima Vista, or first seen ; now called 
Newfoundland. He then changed his course ; steering to 
the north : but, finding that the land continued to oppose 
him in that direction, and that there was no appearance of 
a passage, he tacked about, and ran as far as Florida ; the 
island of Cuba, as he relates, being on his left. Here, his 
provisions failing, he resolved to return to England; having 
on board three natives, who accompanied him from New- 
foundland. 

The commercial progress of the English did not relax, 
during the succeeding reigns of Henry the eighth and Ed- 



20 HISTORY OF 

ward the sixth. In the former reign, many adventures 
were made, along the southern portion of America ; in the 
latter, the fisheries on the banks of Newfoundland became 
an eager object of attention. But, after the accession of 
Mary, their enterprises were directed towards another quar- 
ter. That she might allay the jealousy of the Spanish 
monarch, to whom she was espoused, the queen devoted all 
her patronage to an intercourse opened in the preceding 
reign with Russia. 

On the accession of Elizabeth, a period commenced, 
highly auspicious to mercantile extension. The domestic 
tranquillity ; the peace with foreign nations, which subsisted 
more than twenty years after she was seated on the throne ; 
her economy ; all, were favourable to that rising spirit. 
The opening of a direct intercourse with India, by sea, was 
again attempted : but a route was marked out, different 
from any that was before pursued. As every attempt to 
accomplish this by the west, and the north-east, had proved 
abortive, a scheme was formed, to hold an opposite course, 
by the north-west ; the conduct of which was entrusted to 
Martin Frobisher. In three successive voyages, that en- 
1576-'7-'8 terprising officer examined the coast of La- 
brador ; but without discovering any rational 
appearance of a passage. The disappointment, however, 
was in some measure compensated by sir Francis Drake ; 
who accomplished, about this time, his celebrated voyage 
round the globe ; an exploit, that, in conjunction with their 
other marine achievements, impressed the English with a 
just confidence in their own abilities and courage, as equal 
to any undertaking. They had displayed their flag in eve- 
ry region to which navigation then extended, and were not 
excelled in naval exploits by any nation of the age. 

A more interesting period of our history now approaches. 
The British at length began to form plans of settling colo- 
nies in those countries, which, hitherto, they had only visit- 
ed. The projectors and patrons of these were chiefly men 
of rank and influence. Amongst the number, sir Hum- 
phrey Gilbert, of Devonshire, an officer distinguished for 
his military talents, and his attention to naval science, ob- 
tained a patent from the queen, investing him with the 
necessary powers. But, two expeditions, both of which he 
conducted in person, were unfortunate. The last voyage 
1580 ^^^ awfully disastrous : when returning to England, 
without having performed any thing more important 
than the empty ceremony of taking possession of Newfound- 



THE UNITED STATES. 21 

land, the frigate in which he sailed was lost at sea, and all 
on board found a watery grave. 

But that misfortune did not discourage his relative, sir 
Walter Raleigh. Adopting all the ideas of his brother-in- 
law, he applied to the queen, in whose favour he stood high, 
at that time, and procured a patent, with similar jurisdic- 
tion and prerogatives. Raleigh despatched two small ves- 
sels, under the command of Philip Amadas and Ar- 
thur Barlow. They sailed on the 27th of April, and 
reached the coast now called North Carolina on the 4th of 
July ; making their passage in sixty-seven days : which 
was by no means long, when we consider their course, by 
the Canary and West India islands, and their having spent 
many days, at those places, in trading and recruiting their 
provisions. They touched first at an island, whictt they 
call Wocokon, (probably Ocacoke ;) then, at Roanoke, 
near the entrance of x'\lbemarle Sound ; and, after spend- 
ing a few weeks in trafficking with the natives, and visiting 
the adjacent continent, returned to England. Amadas and 
Barlow gave so splendid a description of the country ; its 
beauty, fertility, mildness of climate, and serenity of atmo- 
sphere ; that Elizabeth gave it the name of Virginia, as a 
memorial that this happy discovery was made under a 
maiden queen. 

The great profusion of grapes attracted their particular 
notice. So plentiful were they along the shore, that the 
surge of the sea overflowed them ; and, in all places, they 
observed so many, on the sand in the plains, and on the 
verdant ground upon the hills ; on every little shrub, and 
climbing towards the tops of the lofty cedars ; that, in the 
whole world, they declare, a similar abundance had not been 
found. When they discharged their arms, so large a flock 
of cranes arose around them, and with so loud a cry, re- 
doubled by many echoes, that the noise equalled the com- 
bined shouting of an army. They had remained at the island 
two days, before they had seen any of the natives. On the 
third day, they beheld a small boat rowing towards them, 
containing three men ; one of whom was taken on board, and 
presented with some clothes, meat, and wine ; with which, 
he was highly pleased. The pleasure he received was not 
unrecompensed. He returned to his little boat, and, after 
fishing for about half an hour, and lading it as deeply as it 
would allow, he came to a point of the land ; then, dividing 
his fish into two parts, assigned one as the portion of the 
ship, the other as the share of the pinnace; and, having thus 



n illSTORY OF 

repaid his debt, he departed. The following day, there ap- 
peai^ed several other boats. In one of these, was Granga- 
nimeo, brother of th^ king Wingina ; accompanied by for- 
ty or fifty men ; " very handsome and goodly people, and, 
in their behaviour," it is said, " as mannerly and civil as 
any in Europe." In the present age, this comparison may 
seem, at the first view, extravagant and unjust : but, if we 
consider the state of civilized society more than two cen- 
turies ago, and reflect, that whilst these have been con- 
stantly advancing, the other, from nearly the same cause, 
have been declining, in their acquirement of what is sup- 
posed to be the standard of refinement, we shall no longer 
doubt its general correctness. 

Encouraged by this pleasing report, Raleigh fit- 
• ted out a squadron of seven small vessels, with one- 
hundred-and-eighty adventurers : which sailed from Ply- 
mouth, under the command of sir Richard Greenville. 
This colony, he left on the island of Roanoke, under the 
care of captain Lane, assisted by some men of eminence ; 
amongst whom, was Hariot, a distinguished mathematician. 
The latter individuals faithfully discharged their duty, in 
obtaining a more ample knowledge of the country ; having 
carried their researches farther than could have been ex- 
pected, with so inconsiderable aid, and from a situation so 
disadvantageous. But the same praise is not due to Lane, 
and the majority of his subordinate companions. They 
seemed to think nothing worthy their attention, except 
gold and silver. Amused by the Indians, with extraordi- 
nary tales, concerning pearl fisheries and rich mines of 
those precious metals, they neglected the cultivation of the 
soil ; and, being disappointed in attaining treasures, which 
were only the invention of a people, now as anxious to de- 
stroy, as they were before to assist, these dangerous intru- 
ders, they were assailed by a two-fold calamity, hostility 
and famine. Reduced to extreme distress, they were pre- 
paring to disperse in quest of food, when Sir Francis Drake, 
returning from the West Indies, appeared with his fleet, 
and ofl'ered them assistance : but his generous intention 
was frustrated by a storm. A small vessel, with provisions 
destined for their service, was dashed to pieces ; and, as he 
could not supply them, a second time, with adequate relief, 
at their unanimous request, he carried them home to Eng- 
land. Thus ended, that ill-conducted experiment, after a 
trial of nine months. 
Only a fevf days had expired, when a small bark, with some 



THE UNITED STATES. 33 

stores, despatched by Raleigh, arrived at the place where 
those men had been settled ; but, on finding it deserted, 
she returned : and scarcely was that vessel gone, before 
Greenville appeared with further aid. He searched for the 
colony ; but, receiving no information of its fate, he left fif- 
teen of his crew, to retain possession of the island, and de- 
parted. 

Early in the following year, the proprietors despatched 
three vessels, under the command of captain White, Avith 
one-hundred-and-fifty men. In the month of July, they 
arrived at Roanoke, and endeavoured to find the small par- 
ty left there by sir Richard Greenville ; but, of their fate, 
they collected no satisfactory account. It is most proba- 
ble, that their misconduct had caused their dispersion ; 
perhaps their death : the bones of one person were seen ; 
the fort which Lane had erected was thrown down ; but 
their dwellings remained unhurt. Both were overgrown 
with melons. Some deer had entered within the deserted 
walls, and were feeding on the fruit, which perhaps their 
late inhabitants had planted ; a melancholy scene. 

In about a month after the arrival of captain White, his 
daughter, the wife of Ananias Dare, one of the assistants, 
had a female child, in Roanoke ; which, being the first born 
in the colony, was named Virginia. 

This event might seem propitious ; it was certainly a 
very pleasing occurrence. But misfortune pursued even 
this infant settlement. Insubordination, anarchy, distress, 
were every day increasing. At the desire, therefore, of the 
inhabitants, the governor returned to England, for supplies ; 
and, at his request, a fleet, under the command of Green- 
ville, was prepared at Biddiford : but, on account of the 
Spanish Armada, which then threatened the parent coun- 
try with subjection, this officer, whose talents were now re- 
quired in a more important service, was ordered not to sail. 
White, however, obtained two small pinnaces, the Brave 
and the Roe ; the former of thirty, the latter of only twen- 
ty-five tons, burthen ; with which, he departed for America. 
The object of the voyage was, however, soon neglected ; 
the distressed situation of the colony, forgotten. Piracy 
engrossed the whole attention of the seamen. Having plun- 
dered every vessel they could overtake, British, Scotch, 
or foreign ; chased and beaten off an armed vessel of two- 
hundred tons, with a degree of courage worthy of a better 
cause, one of the pinnaces was attacked by two large French 
privateers ; when, after a desperate battle, in which many 



24 HISTORY OF 

men on both sides were killed, she and her consort were 
themselves plundered, and forced to return to England ! 
" Thus," says the narrator of these adventures, " God just- 
ly punished the former thievery of our evil-disposed mar- 
iners." 

This atrocious desertion of their duty proved fatal to the 
colony. Receiving no supply, its inhabitants perished 
miserably by famine, or by the hands of their surrounding 
enemies. 



CHAPTER in. 

Exertions of Richard Hakluyt. Establishment at James 
Totvn^ in Virginia. Life and adventures of cafitain 
Smith. Marriage of ca/itain Rolfe with Pocahuntas. 
Productions of Virginia : agriculture, mode of living, 
religion, and afifiearance, of the Indians. 

DURING the remainder of Elizabeth's reign, no farther 
eiforts were made to establish a colony in Virginia. Al- 
lured by new objects, and always giving a preference to the 
most arduous and splendid, Raleigh engaged in under- 
takings, much beyond his power of accomplishing; and, be- 
coming cold to this unprofitable scheme, assigned his in- 
terest in that country, which he had never visited, to sir 
Thomas Smith and a company of merchants in Lon- 
don. But they were satisfied by a petty traffic with 
the natives, and made no attempt to take possession of the 
soil. 

A few years previous to this, Richard Hakluyt, preben- 
dary of Westminster, in order to stimulate his countrymen 
to naval enterprise, published a valuable collection of voy- 
ages and discoveries made by Englishmen, and translated 
some of the best accounts of the voyages of the Spaniards 
and Portuguese to the East and West Indies. The mo- 
tives of this publication are singular and interesting. They 
display an affectionate regard for the honour and welfare of 
his native land. By a long continued attention to the duties 
of lecturing on geography, and an ardent curiosity in all 
matters relating to distant countries, Hakluyt had grown 
familiar with the principal sea-captains, and most eminent 
merchants of the age ; by which means, his knowledge be- 
came extensive and correct. Appointed to accompany the 



THE UNITED STATES. 25 

queen's ambassador to the court of Paris, during the five 
years he remained in that service, his patriotic feelings 
were daily wounded by the reproaches thrown out, in con- 
versation and in books, against the sluggish indifference of 
his countrymen, and by the extravagant praises lavished on 
other nations, for their discoveries and naval enterprise ; a 
neglect the more remarkable, on the part of England, in so 
long and happy a time of peace. On his return, he imme- 
diately commenced his voluminous and laborious undertak- 
ing. In the preface of this work, which is dedicated to sir 
Francis Walsingham, he strongly evinces the ardency of his 
feelings, and presents an interesting summary of the foreign 
relations of his country. " Which of the kings of England, 
before her majesty," he demands, " displayed their banners 
in the Caspian Sea ? Which of them have ever traded with 
the emperor of Persia, and obtained for her merchants nu- 
merous and important privileges ? Who, at any time before, 
beheld an English regiment in the stately porch of the 
Grand Signior at Constantinople ? Who ever found Eng- 
lish consuls and commercial agents at Tripolis in Syria; at 
Aleppo, at Babylon, at Balsara: and, still more, who, before 
this period, ever heard of Englishmen at Goa : what English 
ships did heretofore anchor in the great river Plate, pass and 
repass the strait of Magellan, range along the coast of Chili, 
Peru, and all the western side of New Spain, farther indeed, 
than the vessels of any other nation had ever ventured ; 
traverse the immense surface of the South Sea, land upon 
the Luzones, in despite of the enemy ; enter into alliance, 
amity and traffic, with the princes of the Moluccas and the 
isle of Java; double the famous Cape of Good Hope, arrivti 
at the isle of St. Helena, and, last of all, return home rich- 
ly laden with the commodities of China." 

By the zealous endeavours of a person respected equally 
by traders and men of rank, numbers of both orders formed 
an association, again to establish colonies in America ; and 
petitioned James the first, to sanction the execution of their 
plans. The period was highly favourable to their wishes. 
James was scarcely seated on the throne, when he conclud- 
ed, by an amicable treaty, the tedious war which had been 
carried on with Spain ; and now readily granted their re- 
quest. He divided, into two districts, of nearly equal ex- 
tent, that portion of North America which stretches from 
the 34th to the 45th degree, of latitude, excepting the ter- 
ritory of any other Christian prince or people, already occu- 
pied; one, called the First, or South Colony, the other, the 
3 



^ HISTORY OF 

Second, or North Colony^ of Virginia. He authorized sir 
1606 Th^^^^ Gates, sir George Summers, Richard Hak- 
luyt, and others, mostly resident in London, to settle 
in a limited district of the South. An equal extent of the 
North, he allotted to several gentlemen and merchants .of 
Bristol, Plymouth, and other parts of the west of England. 
As the object of association was new, so the plan of con- 
ducting their affairs was uncommon. xThe supreme gov- 
ernment of the colonies was vested in a council resident in 
England, to be nominated by the king; the subordinate ju- 
risdiction, in a council, which was to reside in America, and 
also to be named by the crown, and act conformably with 
its instructions. Several clauses, however, evinced con- 
siderable liberality. Whatever was required for their sus- 
tenance, or for the support of commerce, he permitted to 
be shipped from England free of duty, during the space of 
seven years : and, as a further incitement to industry, grant- 
ed them the liberty of trading with other nations; appropri- 
ating the duties to be laid on foreign traffic for twenty-one 
years, as a fund for their exclusive benefit. 

Though many persons of distinction became proprietors 
in the company which undertook to plant the first colony 
in Virginia, its stock was inconsiderable, and its efforts ex- 
tremely feeble. In those days, the arts were not understood, 
by which vast undertakings can be accomplished, as much 
by the credit, as by the capital, of a corporation. A vessel 
of only a hundred tons, and two barks, under the command 
of captain Newport, sailed with one-hundred-and-five men, 
destined to remain in the country. Some of these were of 
respectable families ; particularly Mr. Percy, a brother of 
the Earl of Northumberland, and several officers who had 
served with reputation in the preceding reign. In follow- 
ing the ancient course by the West Indies, Newport made 
a tedious passage^ But, though his passage was retarded, 
liis arrival was propitious. The first land that he discovered 
was a promontory, the southern boundary of the Chesa- 
» ., peake ; which he named Cape Henry, in honour of 
P i,' the prince of Wales. He immediately entered that 
spacious inlet ; and, keeping along the southern 
shore, sailed about sixty miles up a river, called by the nat- 
ives Powhatan ; but to which he gave the name of James 
River, through respect to his sovereign. Here, the colony 
determined to reside. Having, therefore, chosen a proper 
site for their infant settlement, they conferred on it the 
name of Jamestown ; which it still retains : and, though 



THE UNITED STATES. 27 

it hever advanced to either opulence or importance, it is 
on one account remarkable : it can boast of being the most 
ancient habitation of the English on the American conti- 
nent. 
%/ In its earliest infancy, this feeble society was involved in 
'war. Imprudent in their conduct towards the natives, the 
suspicion, already excited in the minds of these independent 
people, always watchful against invasion, was now heighten- 
ed into resentment, at this open violation of their rights. 
To war, was added a calamity more dreadful, that bravery- 
would oppose in vain. A scarcity of provisions, approach- 
ing to a famine, introduced diseases ; which, aided by the 
effects of a sultry climate upon their exhausted frames, in 
a few months swept away half their number, and left the 
remainder sickly and dejected. " In such trying extremi- 
ties," says an admired historian, " the comparative powers 
of every individual are discovered and called forth ; and 
each, naturally, takes that station, and assumes that ascen- 
dency, to which he is entitled by his talents and force of 
mind," Every eye Avas now turned towards Captain Smith, 
who had been appointed in England one of the council ; 
and all willingly devolved on him the government; an au- 
thority much greater than that of which, on their arrival, 
they had unjustly deprived him. 

A character so distinguished in the annals of Virginia; 
so marked, by nature, with those bold traits of spirit and of 
genius ; arrests the historian's pen, and claims a more than 
ordinary notice ; a degree of attention, in some measure pro- 
portioned to the transactions with which he is associated. 
Captain John Smith, the father of Virginia, was born of an 
ancient family, in 1579, at Willoughby, in Lincolnshire, 
and educated in the schools of Aiford and Louth. His pa- 
rents, who died when he was only in his thirteenth year, 
left him a small estate ; which, however, through his own 
want of economy, and the inattention of his guardians, be- 
came soon inadequate to his support. He then accompa- 
nied a son of the famous lord Willoughby to France ; and, 
after remaining there a short time, returned to his relations ; 
who gave him a few shillings, out of his own estate, as an 
acquittance from any further demands. He next served 
for some years in the Low Countries, against the Spaniards. 
Thence, passing over into Scotland, he remained there a 
short time amongst his friends : but, weary of the successive 
intemperance of company, in which he had never felt de- 
light, he retired, with a faithfulservant, into the midst of 



28 HISTORY OF 

an extensive forest, and, on the margin of a little brook, 
entwined an arbour of boughs ; in which he lay, with no 
other bed than leaves, no covering except his ordinary 
dress. His study consisted in Machiavel's art of war, and 
Marcus Aurelius ; his exercise, a good horse, with his 
" lance and ring ;" his food, the deer, the rambling inhabit- 
ant of the woods. Satiated, at length, by retirement, he 
allowed himself again to intermingle in society, was again 
disgusted, and entered, a second time, into the wars against 
the Spaniards : but, abhorring a contest, in which one 
Christian was emiployed in the slaughter of another, he de- 
termined to use his sword in a cause more congenial with 
his feelings. Accordingly, after various misfortunes, and 
extraordinary, romantic adventures, he joined the Hunga- 
rian army, at that time fighting under the banners of Aus- 
tria, against the Turks. By his ingenious stratagems, he 
contributed highly to his party's success. When encamp- 
ed before the walls of Regall, in Transylvania, he had an 
opportunity of distinguishing himself in a most singular 
adventure. So much time had been spent by the Chris- 
tians in erecting batteries, that the i urks were apprehen- 
sive lest their enemy would depart, without making an 
assault upon the town ; and, thereby, prevent them from 
gaining honour in their repulse ; an honour, the more desi- 
rable, as many ladies of exalted rank were anxious ob- 
servers of the siege, and longed, after so much delay, to 
see " some court-like pastime." In that chivalrous age, 
when every soldier fought under the patronage of a favour- 
ite mistress, whose image was impressed upon his heart, 
to request was to ensure performance. A Turkish noble 
immediately challenged any captain of the besieging army 
to single combat, « for each other's head." The challenge 
was readily accepted. The champion was appointed by 
lot, and fate selected the intrepid Smith.— The combat soon 
commenced, and soon the Turk paid the forfeit of his head : 
the ladies were desirous of another trial, and again Smith 
was rewarded with a head; the request was repeated, and 
the issue was the same. Shortly afterwards, he aided in 
taking the place by storm ; and, for his former exploit, 
which nothing but the manners of the age can palliate, his 
name was enrolled in the heraldic records of Transylva- 
nia, with the appropriate armorial bearing of three Turks* 
heads. 

The undaunted temper of Smith, deeply tinctured with 
the romantic spirit of the times, was happily adapted to the 



THE UNITED STATES. ^9 

present trying situation. The vigour of his constitution 
was unimpaired, and his mind knew not the sensation of 
danger. As the recompense of his toils, he saw abundance 
and contentment re-established, and hoped that he should 
be able to maintain his people in a comfortable state, until 
the arrival of supplies from England. But his expectation 
■was destroyed by an interesting misfortune. When hunt- 
ing in the woods, he was attacked by two-hundred Indians, 
who poured upon him a continued flight of arrows. Seiz- 
ing one of the assailants, Smith tied him with his garter to 
his arm, and used him as a shield to arrest the darts; a re- 
source which did not induce his companions to desist, nor 
was it sufficient to prevent their weapons from occasionally 
reaching the intended mark. He sunk, in this unequal 
contest, and was made prisoner. Charmed, however, by 
the various arts which he used to astonish or to please his 
Indian victors, they released him from captivity. Three- 
hundred more, however, of these wandering people, a sec- 
ond time pursued him, forced him to seek refuge in a marsh, 
and, after he had thrown away his arms, which, by reason 
of the cold, he could no longer use, obliged him to surren- 
der, and carried him in triumph to Powhatan, the principal 
chieftain of Virginia. The doom of death being pro- 
nounced, he was led to the place of execution, and his head 
already bowed down to receive the fatal blow ; when the 
tender sentiment of female pity interposed in his behalf. 
At that instant, the favourite daughter of Powhatan rushed 
in between him and the uplifted club ; and, by her entreaties 
and her tears, prevailed on her father to recall his sentence. 
Nor did the beneficence of this amiable child, (for she had 
not yet attained her thirteenth year,) terminate in the sav- 
ing of his life : she soon afterwards procured his liberty, 
and sent him, from time to time, seasonable presents of 
provisions. 

On his return to Jamestown, Smith found the colony 
reduced to thirty-eight persons ; who, in despair, were, 
making preparations to abandon a country, which they 
thought not destined to be the habitation of Englishmen. 
This resolution, he with difficulty induced them to defer. 
The anxiously expected succour from England shortly^f- 
terwards arrived. Plenty was again restored: one-hundred 
new planters were added to their number; and they receiv- 
ed all things required for the interest of agriculture. But, 
an unlucky incident diverted their attention from the prop- 
eV means of giving comfort to their situation. In a small 



so HISTORY OF 

stream that issued from a bank of sand, near Jamestown, 
there was discovered a shining mineral substance, resemb- 
ling gold. Every hand was now employed in its collection : 
large quantities of this glittering dust were gathered ; and, 
by the judgment of an artist, whose ignorance of minerals 
was exceeded only by the credulity of his companions, it 
was pronounced extremely rich. With this imaginary 
wealth, the first vessel returning to England was entirely 
laden. The culture of the land, and every useful employ- 
ment, were neglected ; either forgotten, or abandoned with 
contempt. 

The effects of this delusion were soon severely felt. Not- 
withstanding all the provident activity, the unremitting 
anxiety, the extraordinary self-denial, of captain Smith, the 
colony began to suffer as much as formerly, from scarcity 
of food and the consequent visitation of distempers. In the 
hope of obtaining some relief. Smith proposed to open an 
intercourse with the remote Indian tribes, and to ascertain 
their state of culture and population. The execution of 
this arduous and dangerous design, he, with his accustom- 
ed bravery and zeal, undertook himself; with a small open 
boat, a feeble crew, and a very scanty stock of provisions. 
He began his survey at Cape Charles; and, in two dif- 
ferent excursions, that occupied above four months, 
visited all the countries on the eastern and western shores 
•f the bay, entered most of the considerable creeks, traced 
many of the great rivers to their falls, and obtained a soap- 
ply of food for the suffering colony. After sailing upwards 
•f three-thousand miles, and surmounting the most afflict- 
ing hardships, with fortitude equal to whatever is related 
©f the most daring adventurers, he returned to Jamestown; 
bringing an account of that large tract of country, now 
comprehended in the states of Virginia and Maryland ; so 
full and correct, that from his map all subsequent delinea- 
tions have been formed. 
lfi09 "^^ ^^^^ period, a change was made in the consti* 
tution of the company, that promised to afford the 
colony security and happiness. 

The supreme direction of all their operations, which the 
king had reserved for himself, discouraged persons of rank, 
property, or independent spirit, from becoming members 
of a society, subjected to the arbitrary decisions of the 
crown ; upon a representation of which to James, he grant- 
ed them a new charter, with privileges more ample and ex- 
plicitly defined. He enlarged the boundaries of the colo- 



THE UNITED STATES. 3% 

ny ; abolished the jurisdiction of the council in Virginia ; 
vested the government entirely in one residing in London, 
the members of which were to be chosen by a majority of 
the proprietors ; and empowered these to nominate a gov- 
ernor who should remain in Virginia, and carry their orders 
into execution. 

To that important office, the new council appointed lord 
Delaware : but, as this nobleman could not immediately 
leave England, sir Thomas Gates and sir George Summers, 
the former of whom had been chosen lieutenant general, 
the latter, admiral, were despatched, with five-hundred 
planters. Unfortunately, a violent hurricane separated, 
from the rest of the fleet, the vessel in which these officers 
had embarked. The remainder arrived safely at James- 
town. The accident, however, produced consequences 
which were serious and embarrassing. The original form 
of government was held abolished ; no legal warrant could 
be found, for establishing any other ; and every thing tend- 
ed to the wildest anarchy. Smith was not in a condition 
to act with his accustomed vigour. By an accidental ex- 
plosion of gun-powder, this generous hero, at once the Fa- 
bius and Marcellus, the shield and sword, of the infant col- 
ony, had been so dreadfully mangled, that he was incapa- 
ble of moving; and was under the necessity of being carri- 
ed to England, in the hope of recovering by a mode of 
treatment, more skilful than he could meet in Virginia. 

We shall not attempt to exhibit a picture of the wretch- 
edness which followed. We are unequal to the task ; and, 
even were the task accomplished, the exhibition would be 
alike superfluous and disgusting. In less than six months, 
of five-hundred persons, whom Smith had left in Virginia, 
only sixty remained alive ; so feeble and dejected, that they 
could not have prolonged their existence for many days, 
had not succour arrived from a quarter, whence it could not 

g. have been expected, even by hope itself. Gates and 
Summers made their appearance. Although wreck- 
ed on one of the Bermuda islands, none of their compan- 
ions had perished ; and a considerable part of their pro- 
vision had been saved. In that delightful spot, the hand of 
nature was so liberal, that one-hundred-and-fifty people 
subsisted comfortably, for ten months, upon her bounty. 
Impatient, however, to escape from a place where they 
were cut off" from the rest of mankind ; for, all was solitude, 
•—not a wandering Indian was found amidst its forests; they 
commenced the building of two barks ; which, by wonder- 



32 HISTORY OF 

ful ingenuity and perseverance, they at length completed ; 
and, in these, after a more prosperous voyage than could 
reasonably have been expected, they arrived at Jamestown. 
But the relief which they afforded, though it saved the 
wretched survivers from immediate death, was unable to 
preserve them until the autumn. Nothing now remained, 
but that the whole should abandon the colony, and seek 
more immediate assistance. With only sixteen days' pro- 
vision, they set sail, therefore, in hopes of soon reaching 
the banks of Newfoundland, and getting relief from their 
countrymen, employed there, at that season, in the fishery. 
But, before they had proceeded to the mouth of the river, 
they were met by lord Delaware ; who brought a large 
supply of sustenance, a considerable number of new settlers, 
and every thing requisite either for cultivation or defence. 
Under the tender and skilful administration of 
this nobleman, the colony began, once more, to as- 
sume a promising appearance. He was succeeded by sir 
Thomas Dale ; w^ho concluded a treaty of friendship Avith 
the Powhatans ; one of the most powerful and Avarlike tribes 
in Virginia. 

An event, not very honourable to the governor, prepared 
the way for that union. Pocahuntas, to whose intercession 
captain Smith was indebted for his life, having persevered 
in her attachment to the English, frequently visited their 
settlements; and, during this intercourse, was betrayed, by 
a reward of a copper kettle given to an old Indian woman, 
on board a vessel, and there imprisoned. Her father, who 
loved her with most ardent affection, was now obliged to 
discontinue hostilities, and conclude a treaty, on such terms 
as were dictated by his treacherous enemy. The treaty, 
thus begun in perfidy, was, notwithstanding, productive of 
signal benefit ; and, in consequence of a subsequent oc- 
currence, cherished by its victim, with as much attach- 
ra.ent as it had before experienced his opposition. The 
beauty of Pocahuntas made so great an impression on Mr. 
Rolfe, a young gentleman of considerable rank, that he 
warmly entreated her to accept of him as a husband. The 
princess readily consented, and her father did not disap- 
„ prove the alliance. The marriage was celebrated, 
^ with extraordinary pomp ; and, from that period, a 
friendly correspondence subsisted between the colony and 
all the tribes subject to Powhatan, or that were under the 
influence of his power. Rolfe and his princess went to 
England J where, by the introduction of captain Smith, she 



THE UNITED STATES. 3t5 

was received at court, with the respect due to her birth, 
and to the happy advantages arising from the union ; was 
carefully instructed in the Christian religion, and publicly 
baptized. In her return to America, Pocahuntas died at 
Gravesend. She left one son : from whom are sprung 
some of the most respectable families in Virginia ; who 
boast of their descent from this celebrated female, the 
daughter of the ancient rulers of the country. 

Powhatan had sent with the princess a cunning Indian, 
under pretence of merely officiating as her servant; but, it 
soon appeared, that this man was vested with a very differ- 
ent, and far more important, commission — the numbering 
of the inhabitants of England; in fact, the making of a sta- 
tistical survey of the nation. For this purpose, on his ar- 
rival at Plymouth, he procured a long stick, upon which 
he assiduously began to note the census : but, a very short 
time being sufficient to convince him that his arithmetic 
was inadequate to so extended a task, he wisely relinquish- 
ed the design. 

Meanv/hile, sir Thomas Dale, not satisfied with the con- 
cessions already extorted from Powhatan, deputed a mes- 
senger to that prince, with further indications of his fn«"nd- 
ship. " The governor," said the agent of this insidious 
offer, " has sent you two pieces of copper, five strings of 
white and blue beads, five wooden combs, ten fishing-hooks, 
and a pair of knives; he will also give you a grind-stone, if 
you think proper to convey it from the settlement : hearing 
of the excellent qualities of your youngest daughter, he in- 
tends to marry her, and desires that you will send her to 
liim by me." — " I gladly accept your salute of love and 
peace," replied the wary chieftain, " which, while I live, I 
shall respect ; and I thankfully receive the pledges of his 
esteem : but, as for my daughter, I have given her to a 
prince who resides about three days' journey hence."— 
" You can, however, recall her, to gratify * your brother,' " 
rejoined the messenger ; <^ and the more easily, as she is 
now only twelve years old." — " Never," returned the in- 
dignant father; "I love my daughter as my life; and, 
though I have many children, I delight in none so much 
as in her. Should I not often behold her, I could not pos- 
sibly exist : and see her I could not, were she to be con- 
signed to him : having resolved not to put myself into the 
hands of your people, nor go amongst them. Carry back, 
then, to my brother, this answer, — that I desire no farther 
proof of his friendship, than the promise he has made : 



34 HISTORY OF 

from me, he has a pledge, one of my beloved daughters ; 
which, during her life, must be sufficient : when she dies, 
he shall have another. But I hold it not a brotherly part, 
his desiring to bereave me of two of my children, at once. 
If any injury be offered, my country is large enough to se- 
cure me from his grasp : I am old, and wish to conclude 
my days in peace." 

Hitherto, no right of individual property in lands was 
established. The small quantity which had been cleared^ 
was cultivated by the joint labour of the whole ; the pro- 
duct was lodged in common store-houses, and distributed 
weekly to every family, according to its numbers and its 
wants. A society, so constituted, might, indeed, under a 
rigid discipline, and the terrors of actual famine, produce 
the mere requisites of existence ; but it was not formed to 
advance beyond that lowest approximation to a state of in- 
fancy. The idle must still be a weight on the industrious. 
To remedy this evil, the governor divided a considerable 
extent of land into small lots, and granted one of these, for 
ever, to each individual; from which period, the colony 
, .^ rapidly extended and improved. They began the 
culture of tobacco, a native of that soil, since be- 
come the great staple of Virginia. But the eager demand 
for this article in England, caused, for some time, another 
scarcity of food; the inconsiderate attention to its produc- 
tion constrained the settlers again to plunder the unhappy 
Indians, revived their antipathy to the English name, and 
called forth a renewal of their desolating vengeance. 

Notwithstanding this dreadful state of alarm, the colo- 
nists still pursued the cultivation of the favourite plant ; 
and, as they formed more extensive projects, were unex- 
pectedly furnished with the means of executing them with 
greater facility. How much would we rejoice, could the 
cause, at this moment, be buried in oblivion, its effect be 
no longer traced ! A Dutch ship, from the coast of Guinea, 
having sailed up James' River, sold to the planters a part 
of her negroes; which race has been augmented in Virginia, 
by successive importations, and the natural increase, un- 
til it exceeds the number of the whites. What a climax 
of human cupidity and turpitude ; what a glaring inconsist- 
ence, between the public professions, and the private ac- 
tions, of individuals, are here presented for consideration ! 
Only forty years were elapsed, since Holland had burst the 
fetters of a Spanish despot. She was, at this period, the 
favourite asylum of the oppressed : thus, enjoying a politi- 



THE UNITEi:) STATES. 3S 

cai freedom, made yet sweeter by the recollections of a 
sanguinary bondage, and the proud satisfaction of receiving 
within her bosom the trembling victims of superstition. But, 
the fetters which her citizens had thus broken, and cast 
upon the ground, are quickly lifted and repaired. With 
adamantine permanence, they are transferred, to the feeble, 
unoffending native, of another clime. The commerce, 
which liberty had extended, is now made subservient to the 
increase of slavery. The colonists become partakers in the 
crime : they place the last rivet to the chains, and plead ne- 
cessity in exculpation. But, there was no necessity : the 
land which they had deserted maintained only a scanty 
population, and required not their removal. Its neglected 
soil was more generous, its climate more congenial, than 
was either in the country that they adopted; its laws more 
liberal than those which they now obeyed. It had not driv- 
en these colonists away : their emigration was voluntary ; 
embraced with ardour, because dictated by ambition. 

Scarcely had they committed this violence on the liber- 
ty of others, when they succeeded in the extension of their 
own. Whilst trampling on their fellow men, they seemed 
to rise in their own importance, and be impressed with a 
more lively sense of the value of freedom. In compliance 
with this spirit, the governor, sir George Yeardley, 
called a general assembly, the first held in Virginia. 
Population was now so increased, and the settlements were 
so dispersed, that eleven corporations sent representatives to 
this convention ; which was permitted to assume legislative 
power, the natural privilege of man. The supreme authori- 
ty was lodged partly in the governor, partly in a council of 
state appointed by the company, and in a general assembly, 
composed of representatives of the people. The first re- 
sembled Xhe sovereign ; the second, the house of peers ; and 
the last, the house of commons, of the British constitution : 
then, the best mode of free government ever established by 
any nation of the world, and the system from which all sub- 
sequent English colonial policy has been formed. 

A natural effect of that happy change was an increase of 
their agriculture. There was now produced tobacco, ade- 
quate 'not only to the consumption of Great Britain, but 
some also for a foreign market. The company opened a 
trade with Holland, and established warehouses in Middle- 
burgh and Flushing. This measure is remarkable, as hav- 
ing produced the first difference of sentiment between the 
colony and the parent state. Jealous at seeing a commodi- 



56 HISTORY OF 

ty, for which the demand was every day increasing, con- 
ducted to foreign ports, without being subject to its control, 
thereby causing a diminution of its revenue, the latter en- 
deavoured to check this colonial enterprise ; not consider- 
ing that the restraint was a breach of the sacred principles 
of justice. 

The bold spirit of discussion which the new constitution 
had infused into the general courts of the colony in London, 
having soon drawn the attention, and roused the suspicion, 
of James, their charter, by a decision of the king's bench, 
was forfeited, and the company dissolved. His successor, 
Charles the first, adopted all his father's maxims, with res- 
pect to Virginia ; so that, during a great part of his reign, 
it knew no other law than the royal wvH. But, the colonists 
not quietly submitting to this system of oppression, Charles 
yielded to the people's voice : he recalled Harvey, his ob- 
noxious governor, and in his place appointed sir William 
Berkeley; a man of consummate abilities and exalted rank, 
prudent, virtuous, and popular : under whose administra- 
tion, Virginia remained, with some short periods of inter- 
ruption, almost forty years. This pleasing change in the 
person of the governor, was accompanied by a still farther 
amelioration in the mode of government. The growing 
opposition experienced by the king from domestic subjects, 
prompted him to court the affections of those abroad, 
Berkeley, though the literal tenor of his commission was 
the same with that of his predecessor, received instructions 
to declare, that, in all its concerns, civil and ecclesiastical, 
the colony would be governed by the laws of England. He 
was directed to issue writs for choosing representatives of 
the people; who, in conjunction with himself and the coun- 
cil, were to form a general assembly, and possess supreme 
legislative power, (subject, however, to the ratification of 
the general courts in England,) and to establish courts of 
justice, in which all causes should be decided, agreeably to 
the forms of procedure in the parent state. 

After royalty was abolished in Great Britain, by the ex- 
ecution of the king, and the consequent establishment of a 
commonwealth, the authority of the crown continued to be 
acknowledged in Virginia. Retaining a lively feelihg of 
gratitude towards a monarch, from whom, through what- 
ever reason, they had received immunities, not less valu- 
able than unexpected, the colonists had preserved un- 
shaken loyalty to Charles, during all his misfortunes. But 
the measures of the commonwealth were prompt and 



THE UNITED STATES. 37 

, , „ vif^orous. A numerous squadron, with a consider- 
*^^ able body of land-forces, was despatched, to reduce 
the Vh'ghnans to obedience. Berkeley made resistance to 
this formidable armament ; but could not long maintain so 
unequal a contest. He was soon defeated. His gallant 
conduct, however, instead of injuring, was of service, to his 
people. They received indemnity for the past, and were 
allowed all the privileges of citizens. Notwithstanding, 
the governor disdained to make any stipulations for himself; 
and, choosing to pass his days far from a government which 
he detested, he continued, for some years, in Virginia, as 
a private man, beloved and respected by all over whom he 
had presided. 

The English commonwealth was not satisfied with the 
mere subjection of the colonies. It next turned its atten- 
tion to securing, by an express law, the benefit of their in- 
creasing commerce. With this view, the parliament fram- 
ed two acts: one, prohibiting all mercantile intercourse be- 
tween the colonies and foreign states ; the other, the im- 
portation of Asiatic, African, or American produce, into 
the dominions of the commonwealth, except in vessels be- 
longing to English subjects, or to the people of the respect- 
ive colonies from which the importation was made ; navi- 
gated by an English commander, and by crews, the greater 
part of which must be Englishmen. 

On the death of Mathews, the last governor appointed 
by Cromwell after he had usurped the supreme power, the 
Virginians, no longer under the control of authority, burst 
out with the utmost violence. They forced sir William 
Berkeley from his retirement, boldly erected the royal 
standard, and proclaimed Charles the second, son of the 
late monarch, their lawful sovereign. Thus, they were 
the last British subjects who renounced, and the first who 
returned, to their allegiance; a distinction, which, with 
whatever degree of pride they were once fond of recollect- 
ing it, would, now, be willingly relinquished. 

Indeed, the satisfaction of living under their ancient sov- 
ereign, was all, perhaps, they had expected. P'or, though 
the unbending disposition of the Stuarts promised no 
amendment in the government, their title was undisputed, 
their family, from its antiquity, more respected than that 
which had usurped their place ; considerations of moment- 
ous influence, on the minds of a large number of men of 
rank, recently arrived in the colony, to avoid the dangers 
to which their principles exposed them in England. Eor- 
4 



SiS HISTORY OF 

tunately for the Virginians, another revolution soon placed 
Charles the second on the throne, and saved them from the 
chastisement to which they were exposed by their previous 
declaration in his favour. But, gracious professions of es- 
teem were the only return made by the new king for their 
loyalty and service ; and the new parliament, instead of re- 
moving the restraints imposed upon their trade by the com- 
monwealth, not only adopted all their ideas, but carried 
them still farther. This produced the memorable Act of 
Navigation. It enjoined, that no commodities should be 
imported into any British settlement, in Asia, Africa, or 
America, or exported from them, except in vessels built 
in England, or in the plantations ; of which vessels, the 
masters and three fourths of the mariners should be Eng- 
lish subjects : and that no sugar, tobacco, cotton, wool, indi- 
go, or woods used in dying, of the growth or manufacture of 
the colonies, should be shipped from them to any country 
except England. Soon afterwards, this act was extended, 
and prohibited the importation of any European commodi- 
ty into the colonies, unless laden in England, in vessels nav- 
igated according to the tenor of the act. 

From that period, until the English revolution in 1688, 
if we except an insurrection raised by Nathaniel Bacon, a 
golonel of militia, there is not any occurrence in the histo- 
ry of Virginia, essential to be noticed, in this work. The 
number of its inhabitants then exceeded sixty -thousand ; by 
which, it appears, that in the previous twenty-eight years 
its population was doubled. 

The college of William and Mary, at Williamsburg, the 
principal seminary of learning in this state, was founded in 
1691, in the reign of the sovereigns whose name it bears. 
To aid in its erection and support, they gave nearly two- 
thousand pounds, out of their private purse, and granted 
twenty-thousand acres of land, besides a penny a pound on 
all tobacco sent from the province and from Maryland to 
the other English plantations. The assembly gave it addi- 
tional revenues ; which increased its annual income to up- 
wards of three-thousand pounds ; and a considerable dona- 
tion was added, by the great Irish philosopher Boyle, for 
the literary and religious instruction of the Indians. 

When the continent of North America was first visited 
by Europeans, the whole country, with the exception of 
small patches cleared by the aborigines, and the ^irairies^ 
or natural meadows, since discovered in the western terri- 
tories, was one uninterrupted forest. The groves were 



THE UNITED STATES. 39 

generally thick and lofty. Sometimes, the trees were felled 
by the aid of fire and of sharp stones, but, for the most part, 
they grew, died, and decayed, upon the same spot. Much 
of the surface, especially near the sea-coast and along the 
banks of rivers, was covered with swamps and stagnant 
waters. There were no horses, cows, sheep, swine, nor 
tame animals of any kind ; though, in a state of nature, 
plenty of deer, moose, elks, and buffaloes; bears, squirrels, 
and conies, suitable for food : also, wolves, and a kind of 
lion ; besides other quadrupeds, amounting in the whole, 
according to the accounts received in Virginia, to twenty- 
eight different species. There was abundance of wild tur- 
keys, pigeons, swans, geese, ducks, and partridges; herons, 
cranes, hawks, and a vast number of other birds, making, 
in all, eighty-five kinds. Sturgeon, herring, trout, ray, 
mullet, plaice ; together with crabs, lobsters, tortoises, mus- 
cles, and oysters ; abounded in the rivers. In the woods, 
the natives gathered, chesnuts, grapes, walnuts, medlars, 
apple-crabs, hurtleberries, and strawberries : they cultivat- 
ed maize, peas, beans, pompions, melons, and gourds; and 
were furnished, by the hand of nature, with an extensive va- 
riety of large bulbous roots, which they dried and used as 
bread. In agriculture, they had made some progress. 
With wooden instruments, they broke up the surface of 
the ground, and leveled the weeds and old stalks of corn ; 
which, after remaining for a while exposed to the sun, they 
burned to ashes, and scattered as manure. At a distance 
of three feet, and in regular rows, they made holes, in each 
of which they sowed four grains of corn, every grain being 
detached ; and, in the intervals, planted beans, peas, pom- 
pions, melons, and other useful vegetables. This is very 
similar to the most improved method of the present day ; 
and, when viewed in conjunction with the produce, leads 
to an opinion, that these people were not in the least infe- 
rior, in the arts of husbandry, to the cotemporaneous in- 
habitants of Great Britain, and that they wanted only the 
aid of iron, to render them superior.* " An English acre, 
amongst the Indians," says Hariot, the correct observer, 
from whom, chiefly, are drawn the accounts of their do- 

* Agriculture, though mucli improved, was still very imperfect. So 
much so, that the people of Eng'land, in a great measure, depended 
upon foreign nations for their daily bread. Wheat was considered 
low at thiriy-two shillings ; barley, at sixteen shillings per quarter 

Reign of James the first. — Uumf. 



40 HISTORY OF 

mestic economy and means of subsistence, " Avill yield, of 
corn, beans, and peas, two-hundred London bushels; where- 
as, in England, forty bushels of wheat from the same ex- 
tent, are considered as a large crop." In some other parts, 
however, they pursued the cultivation of the soil on a much 
more extended scale. Towards the south, in those districts 
now known by the names of West Florida and Alabama, 
many thousand bushels of corn were collected against a 
time of need, in the public granaries. This grain, distin- 
guished in Europe by the name of maize, was called by the 
Indians pogatour. In Virginia, there were silk worms, as 
large as walnuts ; grass, resembling silk, of which a piece 
of cloth was manufactured in England; besides flax and 
hemp, equal in quality to those of Britain. But, of all the 
objects of cultivation, the most careful attention seemed 
given to the uppowac ; at present known, in commercial 
language, by the name of tobacco. This was sown in beds, 
distinct from every other plant ; as if to preserve it from 
the unhallowed contact of an ignoble com.panion ; it being 
the favourite incense offered to their deity, and considered 
efficacious in quelling the stormy waves. They did not, 
however, confine its use to the altar of the invisible spirit. 
It had an extensive consumption, in the ordinary mode of 
smoking, in pipes made of clay, as a potent averter of dis- 
ease. 

Their houses were built in a variety of forms, and of va- 
rious dimensions. Some were framed with small poles, 
brought together and fastened at the top, in a round, or an 
oval form, resembling an arbour in an English garden, and 
covered with bark, or with mats made of long rushes : 
others were constructed with whole trees, in the manner of 
the present log-house, and covered with palmetto leaves. 
In several of these, which, according to the opinion of Ha- 
riot, were not inferior to the houses of Great Britain, a hun- 
dred people slept in one room; there being a separate apart- 
ment for the king and queen. Each person lay on a log of 
wood, hollowed so as to accommodate the back, with the 
head supported on a higher piece, which formed the pillow. 
The fire was kindled in the centre, and the smoke found a 
passage through the door.* Ignition was produced by a 



* England, about the same period, offers a similar picture of do- 
mestic economy. "At this time, the dweUing's of people, even of 
considerable estate, were of plank, badly put tog-ether, and chimneys 
were aljnost unknown in Eng;iand. The fire wus kindled by the wall. 



THE UNITED STATES. .41 

eofttinued rubbing together of two sticks. They had nei- 
ther chair nor stool, but sat on the ground, commonly with 
their elbows on their knees ; a mode and attitude still in 
general practice amongst the poor peasantry in some parts 
of Europe. A few wooden and stone vessels served all the 
purposes of domestic life. Their knife was a sharp stone, 
shell, or reed ; with which, they cut their hair, and trimmed 
their bows and arrows. They made their axes of stones, 
shaped similar to the usual ones of iron. They had wood- 
en mortars, stone pestles, and chisels ; and dressed their 
corn with a clam-shell, or with a stick made flat and shai'p 
at one end. They had hooks made of flexible bone, which 
they used for fishing; and nets, for the same purpose, thirty 
feet long, wrought with cords of hemp, twisted by the wo- 
men. Their towns, near the sea-coast, were small, and few 
in number. They contained each from ten to thirty houses; 
and were not unfrequently defended by a wall of stakes, 
driven closely together into the ground. 

The language of one community was diff*erent from that 
of another; and the greater the intervening distance be- 
tween the nations, the more perceptible was the dissimi- 
larity. 

Notwithstanding that these people were very ignorant, 
when compared with the English, (in the opinion of the 
same writer,) yet, making allowance for their want of means 
to display their acquirements, they were both smart and in- 
genious. Nor were they destitute of religion. Unaided 
by the blessings of revelation, they had, by the mere dic- 
tates of natural reason, received a system, which was, in a 
great measure, adequate to the prevention of injustice. 
They believed, that there were many gods ; who were of 
various degrees, and possessed peculiar attributes : but, 
that there was one God above the whole, by whom the 
others, and the universe, were made : that the soul was 
immortal ; and that there was, in a future state, a place of 
reward for the virtuous, and punishment for the wicked. 
They had priests ; and also temples, where were placed 
images of their gods, in human shape, which they wor- 
shiped. 



and the smoke found Its way through the roof, door, or windows. 
The furniture was appropriate. The people slept on straw pallets, 
having a log under their heads for a pillow, and almost every domes- 
tic utensil was of wood." 

R.cign of Mavxj. — Hume. 
4* 



42 HISTORY OF 

The priests were not so positive in regard to the truth 
of their own religion, as to prevent their expressing great 
doubts of its correctness, and listening, with much atten- 
tion, to the doctrines of Christianity ; a respect, however, 
caused by an impression, that the English were, in compa- 
rison with themselves, a superior order of beings. They 
treated their governors with profound reverence ; and were 
obedient to the laws ; which inflicted penalties in propor- 
tion to the crime, extending, for enormous offences, to life 
itself. 

The narrow circle within which we have confined our ob- 
servations, precludes our relating the manners and customs 
of many Indian nations, advanced a much higher step to- 
wards human perfection. The Peruvians and Mexicans, had 
risen far above those of the north ; and, in the less remote 
districts, bordering on the great western waters of the pres- 
ent United States, works of considerable importance in the 
science of defensive warfare, as well as institutions of civil 
government, evinced a degree of elevation, much above the 
rude operations of primitive society. No stronger evidence 
need be offered in support of the latter assertion, than the 
Gircuinstance of females being, in several nations, invested 
with supreme authority. Amongst a pe.»ple as yet un- 
acquainted with the salutary restraints imposed by a so- 
cial contract of civil government, and whose natural ener- 
gies are solely turned to the business of war, those, only, 
are honoured with the chief situation, who are qualified, 
by their valour and experience, to lead the nation against 
an enemy. But, here, the long-established practice of civ- 
ilized monarchies appeared. Hereditary accession had 
gradually arisen, when the people, having acquired a relish 
for domestic comforts, no longer sought to enlarge their 
territories, by the extermination of a neighbour, but aimed 
solely at guarding their ancient possessions against occa- 
sional incursion. 

In their persons, the Indians of America are, in general, 
tall, straight, and well proportioned ; with dark eyes, and 
aquiline nose : their colour is a dark brown, approaching 
more to a black, than a red, hue : their hair, we believe, is 
\iniversally black, of uncommon strength. Beards are rare- 
ly seen amongst them : a smooth chin is considered an es- 
sential mark of decency : and, accordingly, a hair is not 
suffered for a moment to appear ; a fashion since adopted 
in Europe, though entirely opposite to that which prevailed 
there at the period of the first English settlement in Vir- 



THE UNITED STATES. 43 

ginia; as the mustachio was then universal. Captain Smith 
speaks of accidentally meeting " his old friend Mosco, a lus- 
ty savage of Wichomoco," whom he took to be " a French- 
man's son, because he had acquired a black bushy beard.'* 
— " Buffon," observes Mr. Charles Thomson, in allusion tm 
the characteristic traits of the aborigines, " has, indeed, 
given an affecting picture of the man of America : but, 
sure I am, that there never was a picture more unlike the 
original. * They have no beard,' that author asserts ! 
Had he known the pains and trouble it costs the men to 
pluck out, by the roots, the hair which grows on their faces, 
he would have confessed that nature had not been deficient 
in that respect. I have seen an Indian beau, with a glass 
in his hand, examining his face for hours together, and 
pulling out every hair he could discover, with a kind of 
tweezer, which he used with great dexterity." 

In dress, and artificial appearance in general, they resem- 
bled the ancient Britains. They were partially clothed in 
deerskins, coloured yellow, red, russet, or black : their bod- 
ies, also, were stained, and punctured with thorns, to make 
the paint more lasting. The women sometimes wore gowns 
of moss, ingeniously matted into a kind of cloth. A few of 
the men had in 'Sheir ears a small green and yellow snake, 
about half a yard in length ; which, twining itself around 
their necks, would often familiary kiss their lips. Some 
ornamented their heads with the wing of a bird, or a large 
feather and a rattle : others, with the entire skin of a hawk, 
stuffed, and the wings extended. Their arms were similar 
to those used by all nations unacquainted with gunpowder, 
— bows, darts, and clubs. Their boats were formed mostly 
from the solid tree, hollowed by stones and fire ; and many 
were capacious enough to carry twenty men, with their 
ainns and baggage. 

The Indian is more remarkable for his agility than 
strength ; fitted rather for the rapid pursuit of the forest 
game, than the laborious duty of agriculture. His frame 
has habitually assumed a texture corresponding with his 
employment ; and, in a thinly populated country, this lies 
amidst the swift -footed tenants of the woods. In the same 
manner, the miller, the porter, the city chairman, display 
their several professions, in the conforaiation of their shoul- 
ders, and the muscular rotundity of their legs or arms. 

Of all uncivilized people, the Indians are the most dis- 
tinguished oi^tors. When addressing the passions, their 
language is highly figurative and bold ; warm, animating, 



44 HISTORY OF 

and interesting. They have an ingenious mode of retain- 
ing the substance of their debates. A number of persons 
stand around the speaker, and, at the end of every division 
of his discourse, receive from him, in succession, a small 
piece of stick, as a memorial of the preceding passage ; 
which, on any future occasion, they are thus enabled fully 
to recollect. 

These are all the observations which it is thought ma- 
terial to make, in this place, respecting the aborigines of 
America. We have not endeavoured to give extraneous 
ornament to history, by ingenious fictions of the imagina- 
tion ; to associate falsehood with truth, and degrade millions 
of our fellow beings, by unsupported assertions of physical 
inferiority. European writers have assigned to the Indian, 
qualities of mind and body ; passions of the one, and imbe- 
cilities of the other ; which are alike erroneous and un- 
founded. Having discovered a new world, they think it 
essential that it should be inhabited by a new people ; dif- 
ferent from those of the old, in every thing except the hu- 
man form: but, recollecting that the whole race of man are 
descended from a common parent, and that this parent was 
created in Asia, they trace his journey from the old world, 
and show, with industrious anxiety, his Asiatic resemblance. 
They pursue another branch of their flimsy system, and 
before their treatise is concluded, destroy the entire ro- 
mance bv unavoidable collision. 



CHAPTER IV, 

Settlement of Massachusetts^ Rhode Island^ Connecticut, 
J^ew Hamjishire, and the district of Maine, Sir William. 
Phijifis. 

WE have already mentioned the partition made of the 
great territory of Virginia, into North and South colonies. 
The operations of the Plymouth company, to, whom was 
assigned the conduct of the northern division, was still more 
feeble than those of the other ; though animated by the 
zeal of sir John Popham, chief justice of England, sir Fer- 
dinando Gorges, and other public spirited gentlemen of 
the west. 

The first vessel which they sent out was captured by the 
Spaniards; and their next attempt was not more successftvlf 



THE UNITED STATES. 4B 

In the following year, 1607, the same in which Jamestown 
was founded, they began a small settlement on the river 
Sagahadoc, now called the Kennebec : but, on account of 
the rigour of the climate, it was soon abandoned ; and, 
for some time, nothing farther was attempted than a few 
fishing voyages to Cape Cod, or a petty traffic with the 
natives. One of the vessels equipped for this purpose, in 
1614, was commanded by captain Smith; who was employ- 
ed also on objects more congenial with his enterprising 
mind. He explored its coast and delineated its bays and 
harbours. On his return, he laid before the prince of 
Wales, the map, on which he had inscribed *' New Eng- 
land ;" a title that the prince, delighted by the representa- 
tions of Smith, immediately confirmed. 

Although that adventure had been lucrative, and easily- 
accomplished, it was not sufficient to allure, the people to 
emigration. The splendid description which Smith pub- 
lished of his discoveries, as well as the profit arising from 
his voyage, was considered with suspicion. The one was 
viewed as the transcript of a mind naturally enthusiastic 
and easily deceived by novelty ; the other, as the fruits of 
piratical violence. But, what could not be effected by the 
desire of pecuniary emolument, was accomplished by the 
operations of a higher principle. Religion had gradually 
excited amongst a large body of the English, a spirit emi- 
nently fitted to encounter the dangers, and surmount the 
obstacles, which, hitherto, had rendered abortive the 
schemes of the company at Plymouth. To this, are the 
various settlemiCnts in New England indebted for their ori- 
gin. It is not our intention, nor is it essential, to trace, 
minutely, the various decrees fulminated against the exer- 
cise of all religious ceremonies, or against the promulga- 
tion of religious tenets, at variance with the court opinions, 
by the tyrannical Henry, or the less severe ministers of 
Edward ; the ferocious Mary, or the more cautious, and 
less rigid, policy, of James. To the disgrace of Christian 
professors, the sacred rights of conscience and of private 
judgment, were not properly understood ; nor the charity 
and mutual forbearance taught them by their divine master, 
at that period practised, in any country. Every church 
employed the hand of poAver, in supporting its own doc- 
trines and opposing the tenets of another; in disseminating 
its own truth, and destroying another's error. When re- 
forming the ritual and exterior symbols of the church of 
England, Elizabeth, lest, by a too wide departure from the 



46 HISTORY OB 

Roman church, she might alarm the populiace, who are 
attached to religious worship, more through the medium 
of the senses than of the understanding, had allowed many 
of the ancient ceremonies to remain unaltered. With seve- 
ral of these, however, a large number of her subjects being 
dissatisfied, they wished to address their creator agreeably 
to their own opinions, but were subjected to very rigorous 
penalties. One of the most strenuous and popular declaim- 
ers against the established church, was Robert Brown; who 
reduced his own ideas to a system, and prohibited his peo- 
ple from holding communion with any other. From their 
founder, his followers were called Brownists ; and, though 
he abandoned his disciples, and accepted a benefice in the 
established church, the sect continued to spread, especially 
in the middle and lower ranks of life. But, as they were 
carefully observed, and rigorously punished, a body, weary 
of living in continual danger and alarm, retired to Holland, 
and settled in Leyden, under the care of a respectable pas- 
tor, Mr. John Robinson. After remaining there for many 
years, the society were desirous of removing to some other 
place, where they might profess and disseminate their opin- 
ions with more pleasure and success ; and, not deterred 
by the hardships to which all former emigrants had been 
exposed, they turned their thoughts upon America, and 
applied to James ; who, though he refused to give them 
any positive assurance of toleration, seems to have inti- 
mated some promise of passive indulgence, so long as their 
conduct was inoffensive. 

Accepting the terms, they readily procured a tract of 
land from the company of Plymouth. But their prepara- 
tions were very inadequate to begin a settlement in a dis- 
tant region. Only one-hundred-and-twenty persons were 
collected for this arduous undertaking. They sailed from 
Plymouth, in 1620; their destination being Hudson's river: 
however, the captain of their vessel having been bribed, it 
is said, by the Dutch, who had already formed a plan, after- 
wards accomplished, of sending thither a colony, carried 
them so far towards the north, that the first land they 
reached was Cape Cod. This treacherous behaviour placed 
them not only beyond their stipulated territory, but even 
beyond the boundaries of the company from whom they 
derived their title. To proceed farther was impracticable. 
It was now the 11th of November. Winter was approach- 
ing, and the hardships of a long voyage had caused a gene- 
ral imbecility and sickness. But the disappointment, so far 



THE UNITED STATES. 47 

Ih)m being injurious, seems a fortunate event: as the coun- 
try of their destination was thickly inhabited by Indians, 
and this, almost depopulated ; a pestilence having recently 
swept off more than three fourths of its inhabitants. Be- 
fore landing, they bound themselves, by a written covenant, 
to be ruled by the majority ; elected John Carver their 
governor for one year; and, on the 11th of December, 
chose for their station a place called by the Indians Patuxet, 
to which they gave the name of New Plymouth ; partly 
because the harbour in which it is situated had been styled 
Plymouth by captain Smith, and partly in remembrance of 
the kind treatment they had received in the port of that 
name in England. 

Before the spring, half their number were cut off by 
famine or disease; and even those who remained were un- 
able to give the requisite attention to the providing of food. 
They were frequently employed in skirmishing with the 
Indians. Let it not, however, be imagined, that the latter 
>vere the aggressors. The records of the ancient settlers 
incontestibly prove that the Indians were attacked without 
provocation. In a few days after the English landed, cap- 
tain Standish, with a party of sixteen men, well armed, 
went to explore the country ; and, about a mile from the 
sea, discovered five " savages," who immediately fled. 
^<' He pursued them about ten miles ; but, night coming on, 
he placed sentinels, kindled a fire, and rested quietly." In 
the morning, he continued the pursuit^ as far as Pamet 
river, without seeing either inhabitants or habitations. 
Pearly in December, he set out upon a fourth expedition of 
discovery. On the first day, he saw a small party of In- 
dians, who fled; and about midnight, when sleeping in the 
woods, being roused by the sentinel, his men fired two 
guns, but perceived no enemy: the shots, however, alarm- 
ed the poor natives, who were probably lurking in the 
neighbourhood, anxious to watch the motions of an enemy, 
who had invaded their territory, and assailed them without 
reason. Wherefore, in the morning, a shower of arrows 
was poured against the English, accompanied by savage 
yells, no less terrible to the Europeans than were the ex- 
plosions of the death-dealing musket to the Indians. 

Amongst the various traces of civilized life, observed 
with these people, there was one evidence worthy of atten- 
tion, as it will aid in removing the erroneous estimate of 
their social improvement, so generally entertained. After 
passing some corn-fields, the notice of the English was ar- 



48 History of 

rested by a regular burying-yard, encompassed with pali- 
sades, driven closely together; several of the graves heing 
carefully surrounded in the same manner. 

It was a favourite opinion with all the enthusiasts of that 
age, that the Scriptures contained a complete system of 
civil government, as well as of spiritual instruction ; and, 
in consequence, without attending to the peculiar circum- 
stances, or situation, of the people whose history is there 
recorded, they deduced general rules, for their own con- 
duct, from what happened to men in a very different state. 
Influenced by this erroneous idea, the colonists of New 
Plymouth, in imitation of the primitive Christians, threw 
all their property into a common stock, and carried on 
every work of industry by their joint labour, for public 
benefit. This method, though it displayed the sincerity of 
their professions, retarded the progress of their colony. 
The same fatal effects flowed from this community of 
goods, that had, before, from difterent motives, been expe- 
rienced in Virginia ; and it was soon, through necessity, 
relinquished. Excited by the same notion, and viewing 
themselves as a chosen people of God, all their institutions 
had reference to some ancient laws ; the language of their 
familiar and historical writings was mostly quotations from 
the Bible ; their hopes, their fears, their prospects of vic- 
tory, or prognostications of defeat, all, were regulated by 
the impulse of imaginary inspiration. Under these im- 
pressions, their increase was extremely slow. Their relig- 
ious principles were so extraordinary and unsocial, that, 
at the end of ten years, these well-meaning people, when 
they became incorporated with their more powerful neigh- 
bours of Massachusetts Bay, did not exceed three-hundred. 

Of this colony, it is now our intention to treat. Not- 
withstanding the persecutions, to which religious dissenters, 
of every denomination, w^ere still exposed in Britain, their 
zeal and number continued to augment ; and, as they des- 
paired of obtaining, in their own country, any relaxation 
of the penal laws against their sect, they hoped to find an 
asylum in New England. By the activity of Mr. White, 
a non-conformist minister at Dorchester, an association 
having been made to conduct a colony thither, they pur- 
chased from the council of Plymouth, a territory, extend- 
ing in length from three miles north of Merrimack, to three 
miles south of Charles river ; and in breadth, from the At- 
lantic to the Pacific ocean ; a boundary then supposed to 
be not very far distant from the western shore. They found 



The united states. 49 

110 difficulty in procuring partners sufficient to attempt its 
occupation. But, as they entertained doubts concerning 
the propriety of founding a colony on the basis of a grant 
from a private company of patentees, who, though they 
might convey a right to the soil, could not convey the priv- 
ilege of forming a government, they applied for the neces- 
sary powers to Charles the first ; who granted their request, 
with a facility that appears extraordinary, when we con- 
sider their principles and views. The charter which they 
obtained was similar to that given to the two Virginian 
companies, by James. They were formed into a corpora- 
tion, empowered to dispose of the lands, and govern the 
people who should settle on them ; and, notwithstanding 
their migration to America, they and their desceridants 
were to have all the rights of natural-born subjects. The 
first governor and his assistants were appointed by the 
crown : the right of electing their successors was vested in 
the corporation. Charles seems not to have foreseen, nor 
to have suspected, the secret intentions of those who pro- 
jected the measure. So far was he from encouraging emi- 
grants by any hope of religious indulgence, that he ex- 
pressly provided for having the oath acknowledging his 
supremacy in the church administered to every inhabitant 
of the colony. But, whatever were the intentions of the 
king, the adventurers kept their own object steadily in 
view. In the year 1629, they fitted out for New England 
five ships piwi board of which there embarked upwards of 
three-hundred passengers ; amongst whom, were several 
eminent non-conforming ministers. On their arrival, they 
found the miserable remains of a small party, that had left 
England the preceding year, under the conduct of Mr. 
Endicott ; who, prior to their incorporation by royal chart- 
er, had been appointed deputy governor. They were set- 
tled at a place called by the Indians Naunekeag ; to which, 
he had given the Scripture-name of Salem. Immediately, 
the new colonists began the formation of their church ; 
without regarding the intentions of the king, but in accord- 
ance with that system which has since been distinguished 
by the name of Independent. They elected, by the impo- 
sition of hands, a pastor, a teacher, and an elder ; and all 
who were admitted members of the church, gave an account 
of the foundation of their own hope as Christians. They 
disencumbered their public worship of every superfluous 
ceremony, and reduced it to the lowest standard of Calvin=- 
dstic simplicity. 
5 



59 HISTORY OF 

Much as we respect that noble spirit, which enabled 
them to part with their native soil ; by some, held dearer 
than friends, relatives, or children, and, by every generous 
bosom, preferred even to life itself; we must condemn the 
proceedings which ensued. In the first moment when they 
began to taste of Christian liberty themselves, they forgot 
that others had a right to the same enjoyment. Some of 
the colonists, who had not emigrated through motives of 
religion, retaining a liigh veneration for the ritual of the 
English church, refused to join the colonial state-establish- 
ment, and assembled separately to worship. But their ob- 
jections were not suffered to pass unnoticed, nor unpunish- 
ed. Endicott called before him the two principal offenders ; 
and, though they were men of respectability, and amongst 
the number of original patentees, he expelled them from 
the colony, and sent them home in the first ships returning 
to England. Had this inquisitorial usurpation been no far- 
ther exercised, some apology, or at least, palliation, might 
be framed. More interesting and painful consequences, 
however, not long afterwards, resulted. The very men 
tvho had countenanced this violation of Christian duties, 
lived to see their own descendants excluded from church 
communion ; to behold their grandchildren, the smiling in- 
fants at the breast, denied the sacred rite of baptism. 

As the intolerant disposition of archbishop Laud, in the 
parent country, exacted religious conformity with increas- 
ing rigour, the desire of emigration grew proportionally 
ardent ; and several who now felt indignant at those meas- 
ures, were persons of greater opulence, and of higher rank, 
than any who had hitherto settled in New England. By 
their influence, an important alteration was effected. The 
company consented that the government of the colony 
should be transferred to America, and vested exclusively 
in those members who should reside there. 

This transfer, though perhaps irregular, met no inter- 
ruption from the crown. In a general court, John Win- 
throp was appointed governor, and Thomas Dudley, depu- 
ty governor, with eighteen assistants ; to whom, and the 
body of freemen, were intrusted all the corporate rights of 
the company. In the course of the ensuing year, fifteen- 
hundred persons sailed for Massachusetts ; amongst whom, 
were many distinguished families ; some in easy, several 
in affluent, circumstances. On their arrival, a number 
were so dissatisfied with the situation of Salem, that they 



THE UNITED STATES. 61 

^ removed ; and, settling in various places around the 
bay, founded Boston, Charlestown, Dorchester, Rox- 
borough, and other towns, since become of considerable 
importance. Boston \yas named, through respect to Mr, 
Cotton, after a town in Lincolnshire, of which, before his 
arrival in New England, he had b'een minister. The ex- 
tension of these settlements was aided by the sudden de- 
crease of the natives. The small-pox, introduced by the 
English, had carried off the Indian race in so great multi- 
tudes, that whole tribes disappeared, and thus left vacant 
a country in which they might remain without disturbance. 

The first general court was held at Charlestown, on board 
the ship Arabella. In this meeting, they ventured to de- 
viate from their charter, in a matter of great moment ; a 
deviation which strongly affected all the future operations 
of the colony. A law was passed, declaring that none 
should be admitted as freemen, or be entitled to any share 
in the government, or even to serve as jurymen, except 
those who had been received as members of the church ; 
by which measure, every person whose mind was not of a 
peculiar structure, or accidentally impressed with peculiar 
ideas, was at once cast out of society, and stripped of his 
civic rights. 

This fanatical spirit continued to increase. But the next 
transaction was more puerile than injurious ; rather a sub- 
ject of amusement than a matter of alarm. A minister in 
Salem, named Roger Williams, having conceived an aver- 
sion to the cross of St. George, a symbol in the standard 
of England, declaimed against it with so much vehemence, 
as a relic of superstition and idolatry which ought not to be 
retained amongst a people so sanctified and pure, that En- 
dicott, in a transport of zeal, cut out the cross from the en- 
sign displayed before the governor's gate. This frivolous 
matter interested and divided the colony. Some of the 
militia were now unwilling to follow a standard in which 
there was a cross, lest they should do honour to an idol ; 
others refused to serve under a mutilated banner, lest they 
should be suspected of having renounced their allegiance 
to the crown of England. The contest was at length ended 
by a compromise. The cross was retained in the ensigns 
of forts and vessels, but erased from the colours of the 
militia. 

The restless disposition of Williams had caused his ban- 
ishment from Salem j a circumstance to which is owing, 



52 HISTORY OF 

.-26 t^^ foundation of another state; for, so great was 
the attachment of his hearers, that many accompa- 
nied him in his exile. They directed their march towards 
the south ; and purchased from the natives a considerable 
tract of land, to which their leader gave the name of Provi- 
dence : and, two years afterwards, William Coddington, a 
wealthy merchant of Boston, having, with seventy-six 
others, been banished from Massachusetts, for favouring the 
religious doctrines of the celebrated Ann Hutchinson, and 
holding no less than eighty erroneous opinions, purchased, 
from the Indians, Aquetneck, a fertile island in Naraganset 
bay ; and named it Rhode Island, (after the island of 
Rhodes;) under which title, the previous settlement, by 
Williams, is now included. Protection being afforded to 
the oppressed, their new settlement became, in a few years, 
so populous, as to send out colonists to the adjacent shores. 
After his removal, Mr. Coddington embraced the senti- 
ments of the Quakers, or Friends, and became the head of 
that society in the island. The first establishment was 
made at the north end, and named Portsmouth ; the next, 
on a fine harbour, at the south-east, which was called New- 
port ; a town that in a few years became the capital of the 
colony. These received a charter from the British parlia- 
ment, shortly after the commencement of the civil wars in 
the reign of Charles the first ; and a confirmation and en- 
largement of their constitutional powers from his successor. 
By this, it was ordered, that " none were ever to be molest- 
ed for any difference of opinion in religious matters :" yet, 
the very first assembly convened under this authority, ex- 
cluded Roman Catholics from voting at elections, and from 
every office in the government. 

To similar causes, the state of Connecticut is indebted 
for its origin. About one-hundred persons, with their fam- 
ilies, accompanied by Mr. Hooker, a favourite minister of 
Massachusetts, after a fatiguing march through woods and 
swamps, settled on the western side of the great river Con- 
necticut, and laid the foundation of Hartford, Springfield, 
and Weathersfield ; the first of which is now the capital. 
This settlement was attended by great irregularities. Part 
of the lands lay beyond the limits of the territory granted 
to the colony of Massachusetts Bay; the authority from 
which the emigrants derived the poAver of jurisdiction. 
Two distinct claims were now made to the tract which they 
occupied ; one, by the Dutch, the other, by lord Say-and- 
Seal and lord Brook. The former, then established at Man- 



THE UNITED STATES. 53 

hattan, (called by them New Amsterdam, and, subseqvient- 
]y, by the British, New York,) had discovered the Con- 
necticut river ; and the latter, the heads of two illustrious 
families in England, who were disgusted by the arbitrary 
measures of Charles the first, had taken possession, by 
building a fort ; which, from their united names, they called 
Say Brook. By degrees, however, the Massachusetts* ad- 
venturers were freed from both these competitors. The 
Dutch were themselves soon expelled from the adjoining 
district ; the others assigned to the colony whatever title 
was derived from a first possession ; and, at a subsequent 
period, it was incorporated by royal charter. 

One of the most remarkable laws in the infancy of Con- 
necticut, was aimed against the use of tobacco. A similar 
denunciation was fulminated in Massachusetts. It enacted, 
that no person under the age of twenty, nor any other not 
already habituated to it, should use it, until he had brought 
a certificate from a physician, stating that it was necessary 
for his health, and had, in consequence, received a license 
from the court. Those who had already addicted them- 
selves to this obnoxious weed, were prohibited from using 
it in any company, at their labour, or on their travels, un- 
less they were at least ten miles from a house ; and, then, 
only once a day, under a penalty of six -pence for each of- 
fence : of which, the constables were directed to give in- 
formation to the district court. The Connecticut settlers 
treated the Quakers with little less severity than their Mas- 
sachusetts brethren. For the fourth breach of the law 
framed against them, the offender was to be imprisoned, 
kept to hard labour, and his tongue bored through with a 
red-hot iron. 

The next province that demands attention is New Plamp- 
shire. Under the authority of a grant from the council of 
New Plymouth, sir Ferdinando Gorges and captain John 
Mason, in conjunction with several merchants of London, 
Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth, Shrewsbury, and Dover, at- 
tempted the establishment of a colony and fishery at the 
river Piscataqua. For this purpose, in the spring of the 
year 1623, they sent over David TJiompson, a Scot, Ed- 
ward and William Hilton, fishmongers of London, and a 
number of people, furnished with the requisite supplies. 
They were in two parties. One landed at a place which 
they called Little Harbour; where they built a house, after- 
wards named Mason Hall. The other went farther, and 
settled at a place since called Dover. But the funds of 



54 ' HISTORY OF 

this company were not adequate to the undertaking. Nor 
did the people, to whom they intrusted the establishment, 
possess that enthusiasm which animated their neighbours 
of Massachusetts with vigour to struggle through the hard- 
ships attending an infant colony. It is probable, therefore, 
that they must have abandoned their design, had not the 
same motives which caused the migrations into Rhode 
Island and Connecticut, assisted in the advancement of 
New Hampshire. Mr. Wheelright, a clergyman of some 
note, having, by his opposition to the church government, 
been banished from Massachusetts, took a route opposite 
to that of the other exiles, and founded the town of Exeter, 
on a small river that fiow^s into Piscataqua bay. For a 
long time, the parent colony claimed jurisdiction over New 
Hampshire ; and the first reduction of its constitution into 
a regular form was subsequent to the English revolution. 

In the beginning of the eighteenth century. New Hamp- 
shire received considerable increase, by an emigration of 
above one-hundred families from the north of Ireland ; 
chiefly Presbyterians of Derry, accompanied by their min- 
isters. These industrious people introduced the manufac- 
ture of linen, and excited much curiosity by their spinning- 
wheels ; as the species which they brought over, being set 
in motion by the foot, was a novelty amongst the colonists. 
They also taught the cultivation of the potato ; a vegeta- 
ble well known to have been carried to Ireland from Mexi- 
co, about the middle of the sixteenth century. 

The first attempt to colonize the District (now State) of 
Maine, was made in 1607, on the west side of the Kenne- 
bec, near the sea ; but no permanent settlement was then 
effected. In 1635, Gorges obtained a grant of this territo- 
ry, and in four years afterwards, a royal charter; under the 
authority of which, he appointed a governor and council. 
Upon his death, the people unanimously combined, and 
formed a constitution, on a more liberal and extended basis : 
by which they were governed until 1652, when they sub- 
mitted to Massachusetts, who claimed the soil and juris- 
diction of the province, as far as the middle of Casco bay ; 
and Maine took the name of Yorkshire ; having liberty to 
^end deputies to the general court of Boston. 

By extending their settlements, the English became ex-^ 
posed to serious danger. The Indians around Massachusetts 
Bay, being feeble and unwarlike, and having received from 
the early settlers what they deemed an equivalent for their 
lands., gave no iadications of hostility : but Providence and 



THE UNITED STATES. 55 

Connecticut had soon to contend with nations more nume- 
rous and powerful. Among these, the most considerable 
were the Naragansets and the Pequods. The latter could 
bring into the field a thousand warriors ; not inferior, in 
discipline and courage, to any Indians in America. Fore- 
seeing that the extermination of their entire race must be 
the consequence of their permitting Europeans to spread 
over the continent, they applied to the Naragansets; re- 
questing them to forget their mutual animosities for a sea- 
son, and co-operate in expelling a common enemy. But 
the latter, with a refinement in policy, similar to that which 
deluges with blood the numerous countries of the Christian 
world, perceived, in this, a favourable opportunity of weak- 
ening, if not of totally destroying, an ancient rival : instead, 
therefore, of acceding to this prudent offer, they discovered 
the hostile intention of their neighbours to the governor of 
Massachusetts, and entered into an alliance with the Eng- 
lish against them. 

More exasperated than discouraged by this treach- 
ery, the Pequods took the field, plundered and 
burned remote settlements, and attacked fort Say Brook ; 
from which, when driven off, they retired to places deemed 
inaccessible to an invading enemy. The troops of Con- 
necticut were soon assembled, and ready for the field : but 
the march of those from Massachusetts was retarded by 
the most singular cause that ever influenced the operations 
of a modern army; reminding us of the superstitious Spar- 
tans, who, when solicited to join the Athenians in opposing 
the arms of Persia on the plains of Marathon, made answer, 
that it was an established law with them, not to begin a 
march before the full moon. When mustered, it being 
found that some of the officers and many of the private 
soldiers were " under a covenant of works," it was declared, 
that a blessing could neither be implored nor expected to 
accompany the arms of such unhallowed men. The alarm 
became general ; and many arrangements were necessary, 
to cast out the unclean, and render this little band sufficient- 
ly pure to fight the battles of a people who entertained so 
high ideas of their own sanctity and importance. 

Not waiting for their puerile allies, the Connecticut 
troops, with the Naragansets, commanded by captain Ma- 
son, advanced against the enemy ; who had posted them- 
selves in the middle of a swamp, near the head of the river 
Mistic, and surrounded their camp with palisades. But they 
displayed more prudence in choosing their situation, than 



56 HISTORY OF 

in guarding it from surprise. Their assailants reached the 
paling unperceived, and if a dog had not given the alarm, 
the Indians must have been massacred whilst asleep. In 
a moment, the warriors were in arms, and, raising the war- 
cry, prepared to repel this formidable attack. Notwith- 
standing, however, that, like the defenders of the Roman 
capitol, they had been summoned by an instinctive guard- 
ian, they were not equally successful in overthrowing their 
invaders. A dreadful carnage ensued. Entering hastily 
by two winding passages, which had been left open, the 
English directed their guns towards the floors of the little 
huts, that were covered with their inhabitants asleep. 
Roused from their dreams by the unremitting discharges 
of musketry, if they came forth, they rushed against the 
surrounding swords ; if they reached the palisades, and at- 
tempted to climb over, they were met by a shower of balls. 
Their crowded dwellings were soon in flames : many, afraid 
to venture out, remained in the devouring fire; others, who 
had recoiled from the deadly weapons, rushed amidst the 
blaze, and shared their fate. In a few minutes, " five or 
six -hundred lay gasping in their blood, or were silent in the 
arms of death." 4 The darkness of the forest," observes 
a New England author, " the blaze of the dwellings, the 
ghastly looks of the dead, the groans of the dying, the 
shrieks of the women and children, the yells of the friendly 
savages, presented a scene of sublimity and terror, inde- 
scribably dreadful." The spirit of extermination was not 
satiated here. The Massachusetts' troops, under captain 
Stoughton, at length arrived, and in a few months the Pe- 
quods ceased to be a nation. Their very name was heard 
no more. Those who had been taken alive were sold as 
slaves, abroad, or reduced to servitude at home. 
. The dangers to which the New England colonies 

were exposed, from domestic and foreign enemies, 
induced them to form an alliance, for their defence. This 
confederation included all except Rhode Island, which 
Massachusetts was unwilling to admit, and was regulated 
by stated assemblies, continued, with little alteration, until 
their charters were annulled by James the second. 

Whilst the settlers were lessening the number of the an- 
cient inhabitants, they were daily receiving an addition to 
their own. Notwithstanding all the efforts of the British 
government to check the tide of emigration, the measures 
of the crown were so hostile to the public rights, that, in 
the course of the year 1638, about three-thousand persoiTy 



THE UNITED STATES. 57 

embarked for New England ; choosing rather to bear all 
the consequences of a royal mandate, than remain longer 
under oppression. But, on the assumption of the supreme 
power by the parliament, those motives to emigrate entirely 
ceased. The Puritanical maxims, with respect to the gov- 
ernment of the church and state, became predominant in 
England, and were enforced by the hand of power. Up to 
this period, twenty-one-thousand British subjects had set- 
tled in New England ; but the number of people with which 
it afterwards recruited the parent country, is supposed, to 
equal the amount previously received. Some returns also 
for the expenses incurred by its planters were now made i- 
they began to extend the fishery, to export corn and lum- 
ber to the West Indies ; which, with the produce of the 
first, have since grown to be their staple articles of com- 
merce. At length, a decided indication of increasing im- 
portance was displayed. In the year 1652, the general 
court of Massachusetts ordered a coinage of silver money 
at Boston, stamped with the name of the colony, and with 
a tree, as an appropriate symbol of progressive vigour. 
No other colony ever presumed to coin metal into money. 
But the royal government in England was recently over- 
thrown. The mint-master, John Hull, made a large for- 
tune. It was commonly reported, that he gave his daught- 
er a marriage portion of thirty-thousand New England 
shillings. 

Although these children of the forest thus appi-oached 
the situation of their parent, in the external relations of 
society; in wealth, in commerce, in population; they seem- 
ed to make an opposite movement in rectitude of judg- 
ment : the absence of which produced bigotry, superstition, 
intolerance, and cruelty. That persecuting spirit which 
consigned its victims to the flames, having spent its rage 
in almost every European nation, and been, in England, 
long since exhausted, or restrained by a superior power, 
now burst forth from those bosoms which had indignantly 
recoiled from its effects. We here allude to the treat- 
ment of the Quakers. A number of these people, 
having arrived from England and Barbadoes, and 
given offence to the clergy of the established church, by 
the novelty of their religion, at that time, certainly a little 
extravagant, were imprisoned, and, by the first opportunity, 
sent away. A law was then made, which prohibited mas- 
ters of ships from bringing any Quakers into Massachu- 
setts, and themselves from coming there ; under a gradual- 



3^ HISTORY OF 

ed penalty, rising, in case of a return from banishment, as 
high as death. In consequence of this barbarous proscrip- 
tion, several were hanged ; a mode of punishment not 
adopted on account of its being more ignominious than 
that of burning, practised in Europe, but perhaps to avoid 
a too strict conformity with the usage of their ancient ene- 
mies.* These proceedings are still the more reprehensi- 
ble and remarkable, when contrasted with a previous de- 
claration of their government, which tendered " hospitality 
and succour to all Christian strangers, flying from wars, 
famine, or the tyranny of persecution." 

But this sanguinary conduct was soon prohibited, by an 
order from Charles the second. During its continuance, 
the number of Quakers in Massachusetts increased, instead 
of being diminished. The pillory served, there, as a pulpit 
for the celebrated George Fox, the founder of the sect. 

The Anabaptists were the next object of persecution. 
Many of these were disfranchised, and some were banished. 
But, as oppression again created what it was intended to 
destroy, the court judged it expedient to withdraw it, and 
persecution for a while ceased. 

Why, it may be asked, are these early scenes of folly re- 
coloured, and exhibited on the stage of history, in this re- 
mote age. Are they meant to calumniate the fathers of 
our people, and augment the inclination towards religious 
intolerance; to wound the feelings of our youth, and create, 
anew, the malignant spirit of recrimination ? No, it is an- 
swered ; they are to guard against a repetition, by reminding 
society, that the same causes will produce similar effects, 
amongst every nation, in every age ; and that the same as- 
cendency over the civil authorities, which then prevailed, 
might plunge us, even at this enlightened period, into that 
vmhappy state, now contemplated with so much regret.-— 
A great American statesman and profound philosopher, in 
acicnowledging the receipt of a discourse on the consecration 

• The following Quakers were hang-ed, for returning after banish- 
ment : William Robinson, and Marmaduke Stephenson, on the 27th of 
October, 1656; William Ledlea, on the 14th of March, 1660; Mary 
Dyer, on the 1st of . Time. 

Toleration was preached against, as a sin in rulers, that would 
bring down the judgment of Heaven upon the land. Mr Dudley died 
with a copy of verses in his pocket, of which the two following lines 
make a part. 

"Let men of God, in court and churches, watch, 
©'er such a^ do a toleration hatch." 



THE UNITED STATES. ^9 

©f a synagogue, expresses himself in these words : " Your 
sect, by its sufferings, has furnished a remarkable p)roof of 
the universal spirit of religious intolerance, inherent in 
e^ery sect ; disclaimed by all while feeble, and practised 
by all when in power. Our laws nave applied the only an- 
tidote to this vice; protecting our religious, as they do our 
civil, rights, by placing all on an equal footing. But, more 
remains to be done ; for, though we are free by the law, 
we are not so in practice : public opinion erects itself into 
an inquisition, and exercises its office with as much fanati- 
cism as fans the flames of an auto de feJ^ 

On the accession of James the second, several of the 
New England colonies were deprived of their charters; 
which, however, with various modifications, not essential 
to be enumerated, were restored after the ensuing revolu- 
tion. But, this was not the only evil arising from the con- 
tests of this period. France, being engaged in war with 
the parent state, thought the opportunity favourable for 
disturbing her American dominions : and, from the con- 
tiguity of Canada, where the former was then established, 
was enabled to keep the northern provinces in continual 
alarm. Vigorous exertions were made to carry hostilities 
into the colony of the aggressor. The command was given 
to sir William Phipps, a distinguished character of those 
days, and the first governor appointed under the new chart- 
er. His earliest object was the conquest of L'Acadie, now 
called Nova Scotia ; for which, having sailed from New- 
England with a force of seven-hundred men, he arrived at 
Port Royal, and took possession of the entire province for 
Great Britain. But his next attempt was wholly unsuccess- 
ful. Proceeding with a much larger equipment, and ar- 
riving before Quebec, the winter was so far advanced, that 
the troops from Connecticut and New-York returned, after 
they had reached the lakes : and his own troops being sick- 
ly and discouraged, he relinquished his intentions ; sailing 
again to Boston, with the loss of one-thousand men. 

The new charter, whilst it curtailed the liberties, extend- 
ed the territory, of Massachusetts. To it, were now annex- 
ed, New-Plymouth, Maine, and Nova Scotia, with all the 
country between the two latter and the river St. Lawrence : 
also Elizabeth Islands, Nantucket, and Martha's Vineyard. 
The people, however, had reason to complain : they no 

• Mr. Jefferson's letter to Mr. Noah, of New-York, dated Monte- 
cello, May 28, 1618. 



60 HISTORY OF 

longer chose their governor, secretary, nor officers of the 
admiralty : the militia was placed under the control of the 
governor, and the same officer levied taxes and tried capi- 
tal offenders. Against these innovations, however, an ad- 
mirable spirit was evinced, in the very first act passed un- 
der the new constitution. It was resolved, that no loan or 
imposition of any kind, should be raised in the colony, un- 
less with the approbation of the council and the represent- 
atives of the people, assembled in general court. 

" Sir William Phipps," observes a New England histor- 
ian, " found the province in a most deplorable situation. 
An Indian war was wasting the frontiers ; an agitation, a 
terror in the public mind, in the greater part of Essex coun- 
ty, was driving the people to the most desperate conduct. 
In the tempest of passion, a government of la\vs, trial by 
jury, all the guards against oppression, were too feeble to 
protect the person or property of the most loyal subject. 
The pillars of society were shaken to their foundation, by 
the amazing powers of imaginary witchcraft. The people 
of that county had lived amongst the Indians ; they had 
heard their narratives of Hobbamocko, or the Devil; of his 
frequent appearances to them, of his conversations with 
them, and of his sometimes carrying them off. These were 
the familiar tales of their winter evenings ; which confirm- 
ed their opinions, laid the basis of superstition, and furnish- 
ed materials for approaching terrors. The circumstances 
attending the first strange accounts were most unfortunate, 
and powerfully tended to give them currency. They appear- 
ed in the family of their minister : he was credulous ; this 
excited belief in others. An Indian and his wife were in 
the house : they were supposed adepts in the science of 
witchcraft; their opinions were important; to complete the 
misery, the physician joined his suffrage ; the evidence now 
in the public mind was conclusive. It is no wonder, that 
the alarm was sudden and terrible. Children, not twelve 
years old, were allowed to give their testimony. Indians 
related their own personal knowledge of invisible beings, 
and women told their frights. The testimonies then re- 
ceived, would now be considered a burlesque on judicial 
proceedings. One circumstance, however, deserves to be 
noticed. The persons accused had generally, if not uni- 
versally, done some singular or forbidden action ; were 
mostly in the lower walks of life, and their misfortunes or 
accidents, of thirty years standing, were now arrayed as fa- 
tal charges against, them. The frenzy was greatest from 



THE UNITED STATES. 61 

March to October, 1692. In the beginning of this period 
of delirium, fasts were held at the ministers' houses ; after- 
wards, in several congregations in the infected neighbour- 
hood ; and, finally, the general court appointed a fast 
throughout the colony.'* 

A very learned pastor of New England, Cotton Mather, 
was a firm believer in all those ridiculous stories. He re- 
lates, with a degree of seriousness that is now amusing, as 
many supernatural events, as would fill a volume ; prefac- 
mg his ghostly narrative with a regret, that <' the neigh- 
bours have not been careful enough to record and attest 
the prodigious occurrences of this importance, and that 
many true and strange occurrences from the invisible world, 
have been buried in oblivion." He first mentions a woman 
afl[licted by a devil, that spoke Dutch ; after which, he pro- 
ceeds to a more entertaining narrative, which is here given 
in his own words. — " In the year 1679, the house of Wil* 
liam Morse, ^t Newberry, was infested with demons, after 
a most horrid manner. It would fill many pages, to relate 
all the infestations ; but the chief of them were such as 
these : — Bricks, sticks, and stones, were often, by some in* 
visible hand, thrown at the house, and so were many pieces 
of wood : a cat was thrown at the woman of the house, and 
a long staff danced up and down in the chimney ; and af- 
terwards the same long staff was hanged by a line, and 
swung to and fro ; and, v/hen two persons laid it on the fire, 
to burn it, it was as much as they were able to do, with 
their joint strength, to hold it there. An iron crook was 
violently, by an invisible hand, hurled about ; and a chair 
flew about the room, until, at last, it lit upon the table, 
where the meat stood ready to be eaten ; and had spoiled 
all, if the people had not, with much ado, saved a little. A 
chest was, by an invisible hand, carried from one place to 
another, and the doors barricadoed, and the keys of the fam- 
ily taken, some of them from the bunch where they were 
tied, and the rest flying about with a loud noise of their 
knocking against one another. For, one while, the folks 
of the house could not sup quietly, but ashes would be 
thrown into their suppers, and on their heads, and their 
clothes, and the shoes of the man being left below, one of 
them was filled with ashes and coals, and thrown up after 
him. When they were in bed, a stone, weighhig three 
pounds, was, divers times, thrown upon them. A box and 
a board were likewise thrown upon them ; and a bag of 
hops being taken out of a chest, they were, by the invisible 
6 



62 HISTORY OF 

hand, beaten therewith, till some of the hops were scattered 
on the floor, where the bag was then laid and left. The 
man was often struck by that hand with several instru- 
ments : and the same hand cast their good things into the 
fire : yea, while the man was at prayer with his household, 
a besom gave him a blow on his head behind, and fell down 
before his face. When they were winnowing their barley, 
dirt was thrown at them ; and assaying to fill their half- 
bushel with corn, the foul corn would be thrown in with 
the clean, so irresistibly, that they were forced thereby to 
give over what they were about. 

*' While the man was writing, his ink-horn was, by the 
invisible hand, snatched from him, and being able nowhere 
to find it, he saw it drop out of the air, down by the fire. 
A shoe was laid on his shoulder, but when he would have 
caught it, it was rapt from him : it was then clapped upon 
his head, and there he held it so fast, that the unseen fury 
pulled him with it backward on the floor. He had his cap 
torn off his head, and was pulled by the hair, and pinched 
and scratched, and the invisible hand pricked him with 
some of his awls, and with needles, and bodkins ; and blows, 
that fetched blood, were sometimes given him. Frozen 
«lods were often thrown at the man ; and his wife going to 
milk the cows, they could by no means preserve the ves- 
sels of milk from the like annoyances, which made it fit 
only for the hogs. 

<," She, going down into the cellar, the trap-door was im- 
mediately, by an invisible hand, shut upon her, and a table 
brought and laid upon the door, which kept her there till 
the man removed it. When he was writing, at another 
time, a dish leapt into a pail, and cast water on the man, 
and on all the concerns before him, so as to defeat what he 
was then upon. His cap jumped off his head, and on again, 
and the pot-lid went off the pot into the kettle, then over 
the fire together. A little boy belonging to the family was t 
a principal sufferer by these molestations ; for, he was flung 
about at such a rate, that they feared his brains would have 
been beaten out : nor did they find it possible to hold him. 
The man took him, to keep him in a chair; but the chair 
fell a dancing, and both of them were very near being 
thrown into the fire. 

" These and a thousand such vexations befalling the boy 
at home, they carried him to live abroad at a doctor's. 
There, he was quiet ; but, returning home, he suddenly 
cried out ' he was pricked on the back j* where they found 



^HE UNITED STATES. 6^5 

strangely sticking, a three-tined fork, which belonged unto 
the doctor, and had been seen at his house after the boy's 
deparivire. Afterwards, his troubles found him out at the 
doctor's also ; where, crying again < he was pricked on th^ 
back,' they found an iron spindle stuck into him ; and the 
spectre would make all his meat, when he was going to eat, 
fly out of his mouth ; and instead thereof make him fall to 
eating ashes, sticks, and yarn." 

Twenty persons, men and women, having been executed, 
the supposed sufferers, by their alleged enchantments, be- 
came more daring, and accused some of the best people in 
the country. Suspicion now roused from its lethargy; 
condemnation ceased ; the accusers were silent ; those un- 
der sentence were reprieved, and afterwards pardoned. 

Seldom, does the historic page offer to the biographer a 
character more strongly marked than that of Phipps ; of 
whose life, a cursory sketch may be found both instructive 
and entertaining. He was born at a small plantation on the 
river Kennebeck ; his father was a gun-smith, formerly of 
Bristol, in England. His mother had twenty-six children, 
twenty-one of whom were sons. William, one of the young- 
est, remained with her when a widow, tending sheep, until 
arrived at the age of eighteen. Actuated now by a power- 
ful impulse, he conceived that he was born to fill a more 
important part in the drama of human life, resisted the de- 
sire of his friends that he would become a plantei', and, as 
the first step towards attaining his imagined elevation, 
bound himself apprentice to a ship-carpenter. In this pro- 
fession, he shortly became an adept. Having removed to 
Boston, he there followed his trade for about a year, and, by 
his good conduct, obtained in marriage the daughter of cap- 
tain Spencer, a respectable citizen. Notwithstanding a 
severe disappointment and loss which soon afterwards befel 
him, he was still buoyed up by his early expectation of ad- 
vancement : he frequently told his wife, that he should yet 
be captain of a king's ship, and have the command of bet- 
ter men than he accounted himself. But he did not vainly 
imagine, that riches would reward him in indolence, or that 
honours would pursue him in retirement. He felt that he 
possessed the vigour to attain what his ambition so eagerly 
desired ; and that his prophecies might be fulfilled, by wis- 
dom and prudence in the design, and patience and diligence 
in the pursuit. Upon hearing of a Spanish wreck at the 
Bahama islands, he made a voyage thither, to search for 
treasure j but with no greater success than just enabled him 



U HISTORY OF 

to visit England. His object in this, was to procure the 
means of examining another, and fr.r richer, Spanish vvrcc^; 
and, so forcible were his representations to the government, 
tiat, in 1683, he was appointed " captain of a king's ship,'* 
as he had prognosticated ; in which vessel, a frigate of 
eighteen guns, this enterprising American arrived in his 
native country. 

Many years were spent in fruitless endeavours to ascer- 
tain the position of the wreck ; many dangers surmounted, 
•with a degree of patience and presence of mind, fortitude 
and courage, scarcely surpassed by any hero, either of an- 
cient or modern times. A few examples will be sufficient 
to establish the justice of our remarks. His men, wearied 
fey their ineffectual endeavours, having mutinied, approach- 
ed him on the quarter-deck with drawn swords, and re- 
quired that he should join them in running away with the 
ship, for the purpose of carrying on the trade of piracy in 
the Southern ocean. But their brave commander was 
neither intimidated by their number, nor alarmed by their 
ferocity. Unarmed, unaided, unprepared, he rushed with 
heroic boldness upon the crov/d, and, by the mere vigour 
of his blows, defeated his antagonists, and compelled them 
to their duty. At another time, whilst his frigate lay ca- 
reening in a desolate island, by the side of a rock, from which 
was laid a plank reaching to the shore, his men, of whom 
he had about one-hundred, went all, except eight or ten, to 
amuse themselves, as they pretended, in the woods. Here, 
another conspiracy was formed. They determined, that 
iii the evening they would seize their captain and the few 
faithful seamen who had remained on board, leave them to 
perish on the island, and sail with the ship, to perpetrate 
the robberies which they had planned before. Informed 
of their intentions, aLd assured of the fidelity of the others, 
he prepared immediately to guard his vessel against sur- 
prise, and reduce the mutineers to obedience. Owing to 
the inclined posture of the frigate, all the provisions had 
been, through necessity, carried on shore; where they were 
placed in a tent, and secured by cannon from the possibil- 
ity of an attack by the Spaniards. These, he silently or- 
dered to be unloaded, and turned towards the interior ; 
thQn, pulling up the bridge, he brought his own guns to 
bear on every part of the tent, and signified his intention of 
abandoning his atrocious crew to the fate which they had 
prepared for him. Terrified now by the apprehension of 
immediate destruction from the guns, or, at the less instant 



THE UNITED STATES. 60 

aneous, though more dreadful, death, from the want of 
food, they quickly brought the stores on board ; and, hav- 
ing, on their knees, with eager supplications, displayed that 
cowardice which is the prominent feature of the assassin^ 
they submitted to his orders. But Phipps would no longer 
intrust his person, nor seek to accomplish his design, with 
such a crew. He sailed to Jamaica, and discharged them. 
When arrived at Hispaniola, and informed, by a very old 
man, that the object of his desire was certainly upon a reef 
of shoals a few leagues from Port de la Plata, he sailed 
again for England; where, by the aid of the duke of Albe- 
marle, and other persons of distinction, who became part- 
ners in his adventure, he prepared the necessary imple- 
ments, and, with the most sanguine hopes, departed for the 
wreck. His perseverance was at length rewarded by suc- 
cess : an Indian diver led him to the long-lost treasure. 
Besides a large quantity of silver, brought up by a person 
named Adderly, of Providence, our hero recovered thirty- 
two tons ; which, with some gold and jewels, amounted to 
three-hundred-thousand pounds sterling. So generous, 
however, was he to his men, and so faithful to his partners, 
that only sixteen-thousand were left to himself. But he 
received marks of distinction from his sovereign, which, to 
his noble mind, were more valuable than riches. He was 
honoured, then, with the title of knighthood ; and, for his 
general deportment, afterwards appointed to those stations 
in which we have already observed him, — commander-in- 
chief and governor of the colony. 

His family has since been ennobled by the king of Eng- 
land. Captain Phipps, a distinguished British navigator, is 
descended from the persevering American; and now bears 
the title of lord Mulgrave. 

In the years 1627 and '33, '63, and '70, New England 
experienced violent earthquakes ; which produced serious 
alarm, but no real injury, to the inhabitants. In 1638^ 
Harvard college, near Boston, the oldest seminary of learn- 
ing in the United States, was founded. Two years before, 
the general court having voted four-hundred pounds for the 
establishment of a public school, at Newtown, that sum 
was more than doubled by a bequest from Mr. John Har- 
vard, a highly esteemed minister of Charlestown : who, in 
his will, left to the infant seminary half his entire estate. 
Thus endowed, the school was formed into a college ; re- 
ceiving, in memory of its benefactor, the name of Hai'vard; 
and Newtown, through respect to the university in Engla-nd, 



6« HISTORY OF 

where many of the original emigrants had been educated, 
was called Cambridge. The first Commencement was 
held two years afterwards ; when nine students were hon- 
oured with the degree of bachelor of arts. The first mas- 
ter of the college, was Nathaniel Eaton ; who was a good 
scholar, but had not the other requisites for the instruction 
and government of youth. He was displaced for avarice, 
in v/ithholding necessary commons ; and for cruelty, in 
beating his usher with a cudgel, whilst two of his servants 
held him by the legs and arms. — This is the most richly 
endowed of all the American colleges. It has thirteen pro- 
fessors ; and affords a wider range of liberal instruction 
than any other in the United States. 

Some years from that period, a building was erected there 
for an Indian college ; into which, several natives entered : 
but only one attained academical honours, before death and 
other events disorganized an institution so truly benevolent. 
But the generous designs entertained towards the improve- 
ment of that people, did not rest here. As a farther com- 
pensation for the injury suffered by them, from the en- 
croachment on their lands, and consequent diminution of 
the means of supporting life, Mr. Elliot, a pious clergyman 
of Roxbury, translated the Bible into their own language, 
and had it printed at the expense of a society established for 
the spreading of the Christian religion. Besides, he com- 
posed for them a primer, a grammar, and a book of psalms, 
with several other useful works ; and was the means of 
opening schools in the Indian settlements, where the child- 
ren were instructed, not only in their own language, but in 
the English, Greek, and Latin. Judicial courts were es- 
tablished amongst them, on the same principles as the 
county courts of the colony ; in which, one English lawyer 
was united with the judges appointed by the natives. 

But, let us inquire, what were the fruits of those institu- 
tions, so liberally gifted, and planned with wisdom apparent- 
ly so profound I Have the seeds, thus mdustriously sown, 
and assiduously cherished, yielded a harvest commensurate 
with the care devoted to their culture ? Or, have they 
perished in a barren soil ? Has the mode of cultivation 
been erroneous, the atmosphere injurious to increasing 
vigour ? The soil, we believe, was generous : but there 
was a want of skill in the labourer ; a destructive tendency 
in the climate. The Indian was overwhelmed with a mul- 
titude of doctrines, no less mysterious to the teacher, than 
Incomprehensible to the pupil. The conduct of his patrons* 



THE UNITED STATES. 57 

towards their own brethren, offered an example at variance 
with their precepts; rendering him indifferent to their pro- 
tection, and careless of a religion, that had not subdued in 
themselves those passions which they now sought to re- 
strain in others. Would he not exclaim, as did the simple 
Mexican, " Are any of these people in that Heaven to which 
we are invited ? If there are, we desire not to follow 1*' 
Nor could he, though Virtue herself were to tender him 
salvation through a distorted creed, of which more than 
eighty opinions had been rejected by a Christian, receive 
it with sincerity : he might profess it for a season ; but he 
would repay the labour of his ephemeral conversion in the 
accustomed deceptions of hypocrisy. 

The third provincial seminary of letters, in point of time, 
was established at New Haven, in Connecticut, in 1701 ; 
ten years after that of William and Mary in Virginia. It 
was called Yale college, in honour of one of its principal 
benefactors; and intended principally for training up young 
men to the duties of the church. Dartmouth college, also, 
situated at Hanover, in New Hampshire, is a respectable 
iiistitution. It was founded in 1769, and named after the 
earl of Dartmouth, one of its most liberal promoters. 

The first printing press established in the British col- 
onies, was in 1639, at Cambridge, superintended by Stephen 
Daye; but erected chiefly at the expense of Mr. Glover, an 
English clergyman, who died on his passage to America. 

The first newspaper printed in the British colonies, was 
the Boston News Letter; in 1704. It was printed weekly, 
by Nathaniel Greene, for the proprietor, John Campbell, 
postmaster of Boston. No other paper was required, until 
1719, a period of fifteen years; when William Brooker, 
then at the head of the post-office, published the Boston 
Gazette, and employed, as printer, James Franklin ; an 
elder brother of the celebrated Benjamin Franklin. In 1721, 
James began the publication of another journal, the New 
England Courant. Its patrons formed themselves into a 
club, and furnished it with short, original essays, in imita- 
tion of the Spectator ; which soon brought the Courant in- 
to notice. It was warmly opposed by the rigid puritans ; 
whilst it was, with equal ardour, supported by men of more 
liberal opinions. But the press was then, as it had been 
during more than fifty years, in Massachusetts, under a 
rigorous censorship. Nothing could, with impunity, be 
published, unless pleasing to the colonial government. 
Franklin was soon imprisoned, and ordered to discontinue 



68 llISTORY OF 

his paper, unless he would submit it to a previous super- 
vision : but, not inclining to yield submission, he conducted 
it, for some years, in the name of Benjamin; who had been 
one of its ablest contributors. 

In about seventeen years after the first emigration to 
New England, negroes were imported there, as a regular 
branch of traffic with the West Indies. The number 
brought into the northern colonies, was small, in compari- 
son with that into the southern ; a circumstance which we 
may attribute to the difference of climate : as, it appears 
natural, that the same people who assented to the principles 
of a trade, would have felt no repugnance to its extension, 
had it been demanded by their immediate interest. It is 
only just, however, in reflecting on this conduct of the early 
settlers, to make a large allowance, in extenuation of that 
practice. The rights of man, either as regarded his civil 
or religious liberty, were not, in those days, fully under- 
stood : nor the mental faculties of the sable African proper- 
ly examined and acknowledged. 



CHAPTER V. 

Settlement of Maryland ; of J^forth and South Carolina ; 
JSTeiv Yorky JVenv Jersey -^ Pennsylvania, Delaware.^ and 
Georgia. William Penn. 

MARYLAND was founded by sir George Calvert, baron 
of Baltimore in Ireland; a Roman Catholic nobleman, born 
in England. Inclined to form a settlement in America, as 
an asylum fqr himself and his friends, he went over to Vir- 
ginia ; but, meeting an unwelcome reception on account of 
his religion, and observing that the inhabitants had not ex- 
tended their plantations beyond the Potomac, he fixed his 
attention on lands northward of this river, and when he re- 
turned to England, obtained a grant of them from Charles 
the first. But he did not survive the completion of the 
patent. After his death, however, it was given to his eldest 
son, Cecilius ; who succeeded to his titles ; the country 
being called Maryland, in compliment to the queen, Hen- 
rietta Maria. 

The religious toleration established by that charter, the 
first draft of which was written, it is said, by sir George 



THE UNITED STATES. 69 

himself, is highly honourable to his memory, and was strict- 
ly respected by his son. 

Leonard Calvert, the first governor of Maryland, was the 
brother of Cecilius ; who sent him to America at the head 
of the colony in 1633. Having sailed up the Potomac, he 
anchored near an island, which he named St. Clements; and 
there took formal possession of the country, in the name of 
his sovereign. Thence, he went fifteen leagues higher, to an 
Indian town on the Virginia side of the river, now called 
New Marlborough ; where he was received in a friendly 
manner by the natives. He next sailed to Piscataway, on 
the Maryland shore, and had an interview with the chief- 
tain. *' x4re you willing," said that lover of justice, " that a 
settlement should be made in your country?" — " I will not 
bid you go," replied the chief, »' neither will I bid you stay: 
you may use your own discretion." — This, however, was 
not thought a sufficient warrant for remaining. He visited 
a creek on the northern side of the river, about four miles 
from its m^outh, where was an Indian village ; which he 
purchased from the natives, called it St. Mary's, and the 
creek St. George's, and granted to each emigrant fifty acres 
of land. In 1694, the town of Severn, was made a port 
of trade, and received the name of Annapolis ; and, five 
years afterwards, the legislature removed thither, from St. 
Mary's ; since which time, Annapolis has been the seat of 
government. 

Whilst Virginia harassed all who dissented from the Eng- 
lish church, and the northern colonies all who dissented 
from the Puritan, the Roman Catholics of Maryland, a sect, 
who, in the old world, never even professed the doctrine of 
toleration, received and protected their Christian brethren 
of every church, and its population rapidly increased. But 
this enlightened spirit was, in the course of time, controlled. 
In the beginning of the eighteenth century, laws were en- 
acted, equally severe with those of Virginia and New Eng- 
land, against the profession of any religious sentiments not 
according with the principal tenets of the Church of Eng- 
land. 

The next province that claims our attention is North 
Carolina. Though, by the unhappy termination of the 
colony of Roanoke, and the subsequent deviation which 
caused the discovery of the Chesapeake, this lost the honour 
of being the earliest state ; yet the Union is indebted to those 
events for a more propitious commencement, and a more 
vapid approximation to maturity and strength. Of all the 



70 HISTORY OF 

colonial family, none, we believe, is less gifted than North 
Carolina with the means of supporting a numerous off- 
spring. A generous soil, a wide diffusion of navigable 
streams, a salubrious air ; every thing which ministers to 
the wealth, or to the happiness, of man; seems here denied. 

About the middle of the seventeenth century, some emi- 
grants, chiefly from Virginia, began a settlement in the 
county of Albemarle : and soon afterwards, another es- 
tablishment was made at Cape Fear, by adventurers from 
Massachusetts ; who obtained a transfer of the lands from 
the ancient owners of the soil. They were held together 
by the laws of nature, without any written code, without 
the least degree of constitutional restraint. But they did 
not long remain in this extraordinary situation. The coun- 
ty being claimed by England, was made subservient to the 
interest of the ruling monarch. Charles the second grant- 
ed to lord Clarendon and others, the whole tract of coun- 
try lying between the thirty-first and thirty-sixth degrees 
of north latitude, and extending from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific ocean. The proprietors, anxious to hasten the im- 
provement of their extensive regions, offered every induce- 
ment to emigration. They established a free government, 
a perfect freedom in religion, and, for the first five years, 
offered certain portions of land at one halfpenny per acre. 

The settlers in Albemarle were placed under the super- 
intendence of sir William Berkeley, governor of Virginia ; 
who, having repaired thither, after appointing civil officers, 
and directing the calling of a general assembly, assigned 
his authority to Mr. Drummond. 

In 1671, the proprietors extended their settlements to 
the banks of the Ashley and Cooper rivers, where Charles- 
ton now stands ; and, in 1729, having, for a sum of money, 
surrendered to the crown their interest in the soil, the col- 
ony was divided into North and South Carolina, and a royal 
governor appointed over each. 

The exports of this colony, during the first twenty-five 
years, were lumber, peltry, and naval stores. In 1700, the 
growth of cotton was introduced. Two years afterwards, 
governor Landgrave Smith received a small bag of rice 
out of a vessel from Madagascar, which being distributed 
amongst the planters, became the prominent staple : and to 
this, about the year 1748, was added indigo ; the manufac- 
ture of which was taught by Miss Lucas. In the charac- 
ter of these two productions of Carolina, there is a wide 
dissimilarity ; the rice being as remarkable for the excel- 



THE UNITED STATES. n 

ience, as the indigo is for the inferiority, of its quality. The 
indigo, as well as the sumac plant, grows spontaneously, 
not only in this state, but in almost every portion of the 
American continent : the collecting of the sumac, however, 
for a foreign market, seems confined to a trifling attention 
in some of the New England states ; though the consump- 
tion in Europe, of this indispensable article in dying, is 
very large, chiefly of Sicilian growth. 

New York was first settled by the Dutch ; by whom it 
was held for half a century. They founded their claim on 
prior discovery, by Henry Hudson, a celebrated English 
navigator, employed by them, in 1609, and on subsequent 
actual occupation. The English, however, claimed the same 
country, from its having been first visited by Cabot, above 
a century before; and because that Hudson, under another 
commission from the king of England, had, so early as the 
year 1608, discovered Long Island, and Manhattan, the site 
of the town of New York, with the river which now bears 
his name. It is of small importance, at the present day, 
to inquire whose title was the best. Neither had a just 
claim upon the property of the native possessors : but, if 
we be guided by the arbitrary rule of the European powers, 
in matters of this kind, the dominion must be awarded to 
Great Britain. 

Peter Stuyvesant, the third and last Dutch governor of 
this colony, began his administration in 1647. Assailed by 
New England, on the one hand, and by a Swedish colony 
and Maryland, on the other, this active officer was inces- 
santly employed. He was distinguished as much for his 
fidelity as for his vigilance. He earnestly stated to his em- 
ployers, the West India company of Holland, the embar- 
rassments which he experienced ; and the probability of an 
attack from England : but his representations were un- 
availing. Meanwhile, a war having commenced between 
Great Britain and the commonwealth, Charles the second 
assigned to his brother, the duke of York, all the territory 
now called New York and New Jersey, together with a part 
of Connecticut, and of what has since received the names 
of Pennsylvania and Delaware ; and privately despatched 
an armament to take possession of the colony. Stuy- 
vesant was a brave officer; but, not being supported 
in his defence by the magistrates, was, with much reluct- 
ance, constrained to surrender. In the following month, 
Fort Orange, on Hudson river, capitulated, and received 
the name of Albany, after the second title of the duke. 



72 HISTORY OF 

The British arms were equally successful against both the 
Dutch and Swedes in the south ; so that the whole of Nova 
Belgia was thus subjected to the English crown. 

Few, however, of the inhabitants were removed. Govern- 
or Stuyvesant retained his estate, and died in the colony. 
His posterity still survive, and hold a respectable rank 
among the citizens of the United States. The government 
was administered, for several years, by colonel Nichols, the 
officer intrusted with its reduction; and, after him, by colo- 
nel Lovelace; under whom, the people lived very happilyj 
until, in 1673, his powers were annulled by the re-sarren- 
der of the colony ; an event caused by the treachery of one 
Manning, who had the command of the principal fort. But 
the Dutch enjoyed their ancient possession only for a short 
period ; in the following year, a treaty of peace restored 
this country to the English. 

Being a conquered country, it was governed by the duke's 
officers, until the year 1688 ; when representatives of the 
people were allowed a voice in the legislature. Amongst 
the governors, we perceive the name of Burnet ; who pre- 
sided from 1720 until 1728 : a man not less remarkable on 
account of his being a son of the celebrated prelate who 
wrote the history of the reformation, than for his admira- 
ble talents and correct deportment. He was easy and fa- 
miliar in his manners, and universally esteemed by men of 
letters. 

The duke of York sold that part of his grant now called 
New Jersey, to lord Berkeley and sir George Carteret. It 
had previously been settled by Hollanders and Swedes, with 
a small intermixture of emigrants from Denmark : all of 
whom remained there, and became English subjects. The 
county of Bergen was the first inhabited. Here, was erect- 
ed a small town, of the same name, in which the settlers 
resided ; having their plantations at a distance. Very soon, 
there were four other towns in the province ; Elizabeth, 
Newark, Middleton, and Shrewsbury ; which, and the ad- 
jacent country, in a few years, received a large accession 
of inhabitants, from Scotland, England, and the neighbour- 
ing colonies. 

Though, in reviewing the formation of the new govern- 
ment in Jersey, we perceive no striking features to excite 
a lively interest in its history, such as are in general the 
chief materials for inquiry ; yet we feel the highest degree 
of pleasure when contemplating one particular observation ; 
when reflecting, that no violence was committed on the un- 



THE UNITED STATES. n 

offending natives. In allotting lands to the settlers, Mr. 
Carteret, the first governor, invariably obliged them to sat- 
isfy the Indians. The result of so equitable an order was 
no less favourable than merited They became good neigh- 
bours ; thereby allowing the colonists to direct their whole 
attention to the arts of peace. Carteret fixed his residence 
at Elizabethtown ; v/hich t'- is became the earliest capital 
of the province : but the present seat of government is 
Trenton. 

To dwell on the successive changes which occurred in 
the proprietorship ; its division into East and West Jersey, 
its mode of government, or the names of its several govern- 
ors, would be not only tedious, but unessential. Amongst 
the latter, however, it may be proper to mention the cele- 
brated Barclay, author of the Apology for the Quakers : of 
which sect, a large number had established themselves 
there; setting their accustomed example of good order and 
industry. 

A college, originally commenced at Newark, was, in the 
year 1748, finally established at Princeton. Its chief bene- 
factor was governor Belcher; to whom, an offer Was made 
of associating his name with the institution : but the honour 
was declined. This seminary is indebted for its origin to 
the same pious motives that founded the college in Con- 
necticut. 

Pennsylvania commands a more than usual share of cu- 
riosity ; as well on account of the illustrious individual 
whose recollection is perpetuated by its title, as its import- 
ant rank in the present American union. 

The founder of this state was William Penn, son of sir 
William Penn, a distinguished admiral in the British navy, 
during the protectorate of Cromwell and part of the reign 
of Charles the second. From principle, 'amd in opposition 
to all worldly motives, at an early period of his life, he 
joined the Quakers, when they were an obscure and a per- 
secuted sect. As one of their members, and a preacher, 
he was repeatedly imprisoned. When brought to trial at 
the Old Bailey, in London, he pleaded his own cause, with 
the usual freedom of a Britain, and the boldness of a hero. 
The jury, at first, brought in a special verdict; which being 
declared informal by the court, they were menaced, and 
sent back. Upon this, Penn said to them, " Ye are Eng- 
lishmen; mind your privilege ! give not away your right!'' 
The next morning, they made the same return, vere ■■>.^;±m 
threatened, and again remanded to their chamber. But, 
7 



74 HISTORY OJ^ 

neither attentive to the instructions, nor fearful of the 
threats, of a corrupted judge, the jury remained firm to 
their opinion, and returned a verdict of acquittal. For this, 
they were severely fined, and, with the accused, imprisoned, 
until the unjust penalties were paid. Roused by proceed- 
ings so atrocious, Penn's feelings and reflections led him to 
adopt the most liberal ideas of toleration : a love of free in- 
quiry, and a total abhorrence of persecution, took entire 
possession of his expanded mind. 

He had become, by purchase, a large owner of New Jer- 
sey ; but, being dissatisfied with his partners, he formed the 
design of acquiring a separate estate, and accordingly peti- 
tioned the king; who, as an acquittance of sixteen-thousand 
pounds due to William Penn's father, granted him 
an extensive tract, which Charles named Pennsylva- 
nia, in honour of the admiral. He soon afterwards obtain- 
ed from the duke of York a conveyance of the town of New- 
castle, with all that country which now forms the state of 
Delaware. The patent provided for the king's sovereignty, 
and for obedience to British acts regarding commerce, and 
gave power to call a legislative assembly ; as well as to 
make such laws for the benefit of the province, as should 
not be repugnant to the laws and rights of England. 

The first colony, who were chiefly of his own sect, began 
their settlement above the confluence of the Schuylkill and 
Delaware rivers. By these, the proprietor sent a letter to 
the natives; informing them, that "the great God had been 
pleased to make him concerned in their part of the world, 
and that the king of the country where he lived had given 
him a great province therein ; but that he did not wish to 
enjoy it without their consent: that he was a mran of peace; 
that the people whom he sent were of the same disposition ; 
and that if any difference should happen between them, it 
might be adjusted by an equal number of men chosen on 
both sides." He also mentioned, that he had appointed 
commissioners to treat with them, and that he himself would 
shortly visit them for the same purpose. j 

Having selected a few confidential companions^ i 
this amiable man embarked, in the month of August, ^ 
with about two-thousand emigrants, and, in October, ar- 
rived in the Delaware. His reception must have been 
highly congenial with his feelings. As his ship sailed up th^ 
river, the inhabitants came on board, and saluted their new 
governor with an air of joy and satisfaction. He landed at 
Newcastle, (the Casimer of the Swedes, ai\d Niewer Amstel 



THE UNITED STATES. 76 

of the Dutch,) and immediately cultivated the good will of 
the natives; from whom, he purchased a sufficient quantity 
of land for the present use of the colony. Besides those 
sent out by himself, and those who accompanied him, there 
were, along the right bank of the Delaware, at least three- 
thousand persons, — Swedes, Dutch, Finlanders, and Eng- 
lish ; and, in the course of a year, the settlers extended 
from Chester to the falls of Trenton. They were chiefly 
from England, Wales, Ireland, and Germany : it was the. 
people of the last who" founded Germantown. 

The first legislative assembly v/as held at Chester ; at 
that time, called Upland. The Territories, (for, by this ti- 
tle, was distinguished the purchase from the duke of York,) 
were then annexed to the province ; but, afterwards, they 
were detached, and continued a separate colony, with a dis- 
tinct assembly, yet under the superintendence of the govern- 
or of Pennsylvania. The laws at this period enacted were 
perfectly consistent with the mild tenor of the founder's 
professions. In addition to several tending to encourage 
industry and repress the exercise of cruelty, it was declared, 
" that none, acknowledging one God, and living peaceably 
in society, should be molested for his opinions, or his prac- 
tice ; nor compelled to frequent or maintain any ministry 
whatever." To these liberal sentiments and wise regula- 
tions, may be attributed the rapid improvement of Penn- 
sylvania, and the spirit of diligence, order, and economy, 
for which its inhabitants have been so much admired. 

Philadelphia, which was begun on the site of the Indian 
village, Ccquanoc, derives its name from a city in iVsia 
Minor, celebrated, in sacred history, for having been the 
seat of an early Christian church. During the first twelve 
months after its foundation, about a hundred houses were 
erected ; and, since that period, it has received a continual 
accession of inhabitants from Ireland and (xermany. Penn's 
residence in America was, at this time, not of long continu- 
ance. In 1684 he went to England, with the humane in- 
tention of soliciting a relaxation of the penal statutes against 
the Quakers, and all other dissenters from the church of 
England. In November, 1699, he returned, accompanied 
by his family ; at a period when a malignant fever had just 
ceased in Philadelphia, after carrying off two-hundred per- 
sons. The number of houses in the city was then seven- 
hundred : the inhabitants were about four-thousand. But 
his residence was again only temporary, and much shorter 
than the interest of the colony required. After remaining 



76 HISTORY OF 

about two years, his presence was necessary in England, to 
remonstrate against a design of the British government to 
deprive the several colonies of their charters, as well as to 
adjust disputed boundaries between himself and lord Bal- 
timore. 

The humanity of William Penn's disposition, whilst it 
embraced the most extended range, did not neglect the mi- 
nutest object. His biographers have recorded many pleas- 
ing- occurrences. In a journey through the province as an 
assiduous minister of his simple church, amongst the places 
he visited was Haverford. He was on horseback, and, 
overtaking a little girl, who was walking to attend the 
meeting at that place, with his usual good nature, he de- 
sired her to get up behind him ; and, drawing near to a 
convenient place, she mounted, and thus rode away ; her 
bare legs dangling by the side of the governor's horse. 

Though Penn was a wise and good man, and the people 
whom he led to Pennsylvania were in general orderly and 
well disposed, yet there existed almost constant bickerings. 
He changed the form of government three times, and each 
change was apparently an improvement, and increased the 
mutual satisfaction of the inhabitants ; yet, there seldom was 
a similar feeling between ^the people and the governor. 
From the opposition he had to encounter in England, and 
the difficulties in Pennsylvania, his life was a continued 
scene of vexation. His private fortune was materially in- 
jured by his advances to promote the infant settlement, 
particularly to preserve the friendship of the Indians ; and<j 
after being harassed by his creditors, he was obliged to un- 
dergo a temporary deprivation of his personal liberty. But, 
though during his life, he was necessitous, on its termina- 
tion he was wealthy. Having reached his seventy-fifth 
year, he died at London, in 1718; leaving an inheritance 
to his children, ultimately of immense value : which they 
enjoyed until the Revolution, when it was assigned to the 
commonwealth for an equitable sum in money. 

The first seventy years, including the period in which 
the Quaker principles ruled the colonial legislature, has 
been termed the golden age of Pennsylvania. No instance 
had occurred of the Indians killing unarmed people, unless 
they appeared to have connexion with others that were 
armed. This displays a striking contrast with the early 
and long continued wars maintained against the natives in 
New England ; and confirms our previous assertion, that 
the Europeans were in that quarter the aggressors, 



THE UNITED STATES. 77 

In the last years of the seventeenth, and the first of the 
eighteenth century, during the destructive warfare between 
England and France, the defence of New York, which 
borders on Canada, being considered as both the duty and 
interest of the other provinces, Pennsylvania was called on 
for her proportion of men and money. But the assembly, 
composed almost wholly of Quakers, firm to their principles, 
would neither pass laws for the enrolling of militia, nor do 
any other act which bore a military aspect. The necessity 
at length was extreme, and the danger hourly increasing. 
Assistance was most urgently demanded. But, as hitherto, 
the noise of distant warfare was ineff'ectual, an attempt was 
made to produce the terrors of actual invasion, by a strata- 
gem. Evans, the governor, spread over the country an 
alarm, on the foundation of false intelligence, that a num- 
ber of hostile vessels had entered the Delaware bay, and ad- 
vanced a considerable way towards its head. As the govern- 
or held the Quaker doctrine of non-resistance in contempt, 
he believed they would not stand a serious trial ; and, on 
the receipt of this intelligence, which came from Newcastle 
by a preconcerted express, he rode through the streets of 
Philadelphia, with a drawn-sword in his hand, apparently 
in much emotion, commanding and urging all to come for- 
ward and defend the city. For a while, several believed 
the report ; and, accordingly, concealed their property, or 
removed with their families and eff'ects out of the reach of 
immediate danger. But no indication of the Quakers' arm- 
ing was given, and, before the close of the day, the impo- 
sition being discovered, the governor and his friends were 
insulted as the authors of a studied deception. 

Shortly afterwards, there was practised a more innocent 
stratagem : by which, Pennsylvania was relieved from an 
illiberal demand of the Territorial government ; a duty, 
payable in powder, on all vessels not owned by residents, 
when passing the fort at Newcastle. Against this exaction, 
the state had often remonstrated in vain. However, a few 
Quakers, amongst whom was Richard Hill, adopted a novel 
mode of defeating this claim, and without violating their 
pacific principles. Hill had a vessel ready for sea ; but, 
doubting the resolution of his captain to pass the fort with- 
out a permit, he himself went in her down the river ; and, 
a little before arriving abreast of the fort, dropped anchor, 
went ashore, and used many arguments to obtain a free 
passage for his ship. His reasoning, however, was ineffec- 
tual. There was no relief except by stratagem. He there" 
7* 



78 HISTORY OF 

fore returned to his vessel, stood to the hehn himself, andv 
passing the fort, received its fire unhurt. The commander, 
in an armed boat, pursued. On his approach, Hill threw 
out a rope, and brought him on board. The rope was in- 
stantly cut. The boat fell astern. The commander was 
conducted peaceably to the cabin ; whilst the vessel, with 
her new passenger, pursued her voyage ; soon after which 
determined conduct, the demand of powder was relin- 
quished. 

In the interval between 1730 and the period when this 
history will relinquish the distinct colonial proceedings, to 
conduct the narrative of a more sublime and awful period, 
when individual interests combine and move forward with a 
unity of action, there was an annual influx of emigrants. 
These were principally from Germany and Ireland. They 
settled in the counties of Lancaster, York, and Cumberland ; 
Northampton, Berks, Bedford, Northumberland, and West- 
moreland. The Irish and German people, at an early day, 
brought the useful arts and manufactures into Pennsylvania. 
To the former, she is indebted for the spinning and weaving 
of linen and woollen cloth ; to the latter, for various trades 
of indispensable utility to agriculture and society at large. 
Of all nations who have settled in x\merica, the Germans 
have availed themselves the least of the unjust and demor^ 
alizing aid of slavery ; a circumstance the more remark- 
abJe, as the governments under which they had been edu- 
cated were almost invariably despotic. The Irish and the 
French emigrants had enjoyed a large share of civil liberty, 
and boldly contended for a total enfranchisement from regal 
domination, and, in many instances, the latter seemed to 
desire the annihilation of all dominion : yet, in the southern 
states, no people less reluctantly practise this worst species 
of tyranny; thus, when in power, openly denying that bless- 
ing to others, which, when in subjection, they had claimed 
for themselves. 

The honour of printing the first newspaper in Pennsyl- 
vania, belongs to Andrew Bradford and John Copson; who, 
in the year 1719, published the American Weekly Mercu- 
ry. The foundation of a medical school in the new world 
was laid in 1764, by a course of lectures delivered at the 
University of Pennsylvania by Dr. Shippen. 

Delaware was first visited by the Swedes and Finlanders. 
In 1627, they purchased from the natives a large tract on 
e^ach side of the river which now bears that name, and gave 
their colony the name of New Sweden. Having, by theii' 



THE UNITED STATES. 79 

excellent deportment, obtained the friendship of the Indians, 
they made a settlement on Christiana creek ; laid out a 
liandsome town on the west side of the Delaware; and, soon 
afterwards, formed establishments at Lewistown, Tenecum, 
and Chester; at each of which, they erected forts. Tenecum 
was their seat of government. About this period, the Eng- 
lish began a settlement at Elsingburg, on the Jersey side of 
the river: whence, they were expelled by the Dutch govern- 
or; who employed the Swedes to keep them entirely out of 
the Delaware. Of this opportunity, the Swedes, however, 
made an unjustifiable advantage. Having raised a fort, on 
the very ground from which they had expelled the English, 
they asserted their own exclusive right to the navigation of 
the river, and exercised authority over every vessel that 
entered ; from which usurpation, the Dutch themselves 
■were not exempted. But this exclusion was not allowed to 
pass unnoticed. The Swedes soon felt the effects of their 
imprudence. Stuyvesant reduced all their forts, on both 
sides of the Delaware, sent the officers and principal inhab- 
itants in confinement to Holland, and incorporated the re- 
mainder with his own government ; under which they re- 
mained, until their invaders v/ere overthrown, as already 
related, by the superior power of the English. 

We come now to speak of Georgia ; the last settled of 
the thirteen colonies that revolted from the government of 
Britain, and established their independence. 

It derives its name from the sovereign, George the sec- 
ond ; by whose authority it was established. Its promoter 
was general Oglethorpe. Under his conduct, one- 
hundred-and-sixteen persons embarked at Graves- 
end, in November; and, early in the ensuing year, on the 
site of an Indian village, called Yomacrow, laid the founda- 
tion of Savannah; a town named from the river upon which 
it stands. A treaty was shortly afterwards made with the 
Indians ; from whom was obtained a considerable cession 
of lands ; which, for the purpose of defending the colony, 
were, at first, granted to the settlers as military fiefs, on 
condition that they were, when called upon, to appear in 
arms. 

As the Spaniards laid claim to Georgia, Oglethorpe en- 
gaged with activity in the essential business of defence. 
He erected forts at Augusta and Frederica. Tiie policy 
of this measure was soon apparent. In a few days after 

« their completion, the Spaniards sent against him 
three-thousand men, to drive his people from tli-e 



80 HISTORY OF 

colony. When this force was proceeding up the Altama- 
ha, the governor was obliged to retreat to Frederica. Be- 
sides some Indians, he had not more than seven-hundred 
men : yet, with only a part of this inferior force, he bravely 
advanced within two miles of the enemies' camp, designing 
to attack them by surprise ; when a French soldier of his 
party fired his musket, and ran into the Spanish lines. 
Oglethorpe's situation was truly critical: he knew that the 
deserter would make known his weakness. But though he 
now despaired of repelling the enemy by force,, he hoped 
to induce them to retreat by his address. Returning to 
Frederica, he wrote a letter to the deserter, desiring him 
to acquaint the Spaniards of its defenceless state, and urge 
them to the attack. If he could accomplish this object, he 
was directed to use all his art in persuading them to remain 
three days at fort Simons's ; as, within that period, he 
should have a reenforcement of two-thousand iand-troops, 
with six ships of war : and, at the same time, he was cau- 
tioned not to drop a hint of admiral Vernon's intended en- 
terprise against St. Augustine. This letter was given to 
a Spanish prisoner, under a promise of delivering it to the 
deserter ; but he handed it, as was expected, to the com- 
mander-in-chief Tlie Frenchman was accordingly placed 
in irons. He was no longer considered a deserter, but a spy. 
Meanwhile, three ships of war, despatched from Carolina, 
appeared upon the coast; thus, realizing the apprehensions 
of the Spaniard, and, in part, the ingenious stratagem of 
his opponent. The enemy was agitated and alarmed : in 
his consternation, he set fire to the fort, and hastily em- 
barked. 

For many years, during the infancy of Georgia, it lan- 
guished, through various causes ; — the peculiar tenure of 
the lands, the restriction on the importation of rum, (which 
deprived it of a market for its lumber, in the West Indies,) 
and the total prohibition against the introduction of slaves. 
As regards the first, we believe that the arrangement was 
both illiberal and impolitic ; the second was perhaps erro- 
neous, though dictated by a parental feeling for the health 
and morals of the colony: but the law respecting slaves is 
approved by every generous, every manly feeling, of the 
heart ; required by justice, by reason, by religion. Applica- 
tion, however, was frequently made to the proprietors for 
its annulment. With this, do the annals of the world afford 
a parallel; except in the appeal made, above two centuries 
before, by the Spaniards in Hispaniola, against the withhold- 



TPIE UNITED STATES. 8f 

ing from exterminating slavery the legitimate tenants of 
,-^2 ^^® ^^^^ ^ '^^^ restriction, however, upon the sur* 
render of the charter to the crown, was immediately 
removed ; a measure which, though it may have increased 
the riches of the colony, has placed the name of Georgia 
pre-eminent amongst the supporters of this unhappy traffic. 
The early settlers in this state were principally from 
Scotland. Its founder was a native of England. Entering 
the army at an early age, he served on the continent of 
Europe under the celebrated prince Eugene, until the res- 
toration of peace, when he was returned a member of the 
British parliament. In that assembly, general Oglethorpe 
distinguished himself as a useful legislator, by proposing 
several laws for the benefit of trade and the reform of pris- 
ons. His philanthropy should not be forgotten. At the 
beginning of the colonial misunderstanding with the mother 
country, he was offered the command of the British army 
in America ; but, highly to his honour, he refused the im- 
portant office, on the principle of ii^ being commissioned 
to do that degree of justice to the people, to which he 
might be equitably inclined. This able soldier, and virtu- 
ous and accomplished citizen, died, after the contest was 
decided, at the venerable age of ninety-seven years ; being 
the oldest general in the English service. 



CHAPTER VI. 

George Washingion. Defeat of Br addock. Death of gen- 
eral Wolfe. Cdhquest of Canada. Dr. Franklin. Dis- 
putes with the British Par iiajnent. Meeting of Congress. 
War, Declaration of Independence. 

WE have only slightly glanced at the uninterrupted hos- 
tilities hitherto carried on between the colonists and the 
French in one quarter, and the Spaniards in another. Nor 
is it our intention, henceforward, to detail them w4th minute- 
ness. Nothing shall be introduced, here, farther than what 
seems essential, to preserve the continuity of history, and 
enable us, when describing an event, to see perspicuously 
the channels through which it flowed, and the source from 
which it sprung. 

In reviewing the desolating collision that so long subsist- 
ed between the crowns of France and England, we are nat- 



8? HISTORY OF 

urally led to inquire, to which party belonged the most 
equitable right of possession. It is evident, that as far as 
depended on discovery, England had the advantage ; but, 
as regarded occupation, the claims of France were, in some 
respects, superior, and, in all, nearly equal. The settle-* 
ments at Jamestown and Quebec, the first capitals of both, 
were made so nearly at the same time, as to be within fif- 
teen months of each other. The first established was Que- 
bec. But the period at length arrived, when the question 
of boundary was no longer to be a subject of diplomatic in- 
genuity, but of a more decisive mode of argument, the 
sword. France, besides having possession of Canada, in 
the north, had also a territory on the Mississippi, called 
Louisiana, in the south ; and strove, by a military chain, 
the links of which were formed of out-posts stretching 
along the Ohio and the lakes, to connect these two extrem- 
ities, and thus restrahi the British colonists within the ar- 
bitrary limits of their own dictation. The latter, however, 
were willing, neither to submit to the curtailment, nor yet 
incur the additional inconvenience of a savage warfare, nur- 
tured, by that means, at their very doors. They had too 
severely felt the influence of the French, when more dis- 
tant, by their encouraging the Indians to destroy them : 
and, moreover, they claimed the entire lands from the At- 
lantic to the Pacific ocean. 

An interesting character was, by this misunderstanding, 
brought forward. Repeated complaints of violence having 
been made to the governor of Virginia, he determined to 
send a suitable person to the French commandant near the 
Ohio, with a letter, demanding the reason of his hostile pro- 
ceedings, and insisting that he should ev^uate a fort which 
he had lately erected. For this arduous undertaking, 
George Washington, a major of the militia, then little more 
than twenty-one years of age, offered his service. The 
distance of the French settlement was above four-hundred 
miles : half the route led through a wilderness, inhabited 
by hostile Indians. He received his instructions from gov- 
,„ r, ernor Dinwiddie, on the last day of October, and im- 
mediately commenced his journey. On the way, his 
horse failed. He nevertheless proceeded, with a single 
companion, on foot, with a gun in his hand, and his shoul- 
ders burthened by a pack ; on the 12th of December, reach- 
ed a French fort on the river Le Boeuf, and gave the letter 
to the commander. In a few days, he received an answer ; 
which, about the middle of January, he delivered to the 



THE UNITED STATES. 88 

governor at Williamsburg, after as fatiguing and perilous 
a journey as it is possible to conceive. Throughout the 
whole, he and his friend experienced a continued series of 
cold, wet weather. Every moment, they were in danger 
from a hidden foe ; and, at one time, an Indian, belonging 
to a party who had lain for the purpose in ambush, dis* 
charged a piece at them, when within less than fifteen 
yards ; but fortunately missed his object. Yet, under all 
these disadvantages, Washington was enabled, by his own 
observations, and by inquiries from others, to gain very ex- 
tensive information ; respecting the face and soil of the 
country, the distances and bearings of places, and the num- 
ber, size, and strength, of nearly all the enemy's forts. 

George Washington was born in the parish which bears 
his family name, in the county of Westmoreland, in Vir- 
ginia, on the 1 1th (corresponding with the new style 22d) 
of February, 1732. He was the third son of Augustine 
W^ashington, a planter, of respectable talents, distinguished 
integrity, and large estate ; descended from an ancient fa- 
mily of Cheshire, in England : one of whom removed to 
Virginia, about the middle of the seventeenth century, and 
became the proprietor of a large tract of land in King 
George's county. Inhaling a pure mountain air, and ac- 
customed to the healthful occupations of a rural life, his 
limbs expanded to a large and well-proportioned size, cor- 
responding with his majestic stature. His education was 
suited to the business of the country. His classical studies 
were not pursued beyond the rudiments of the Latin tongue; 
but his knowledge of arithmetic, and the most useful branch- 
es of mathematics, was sufficiently extensive. 

At the age of ten years, his father dying, the charge of 
a numerous family devolved on major Washington's eldest 
brother, Lawrence ; a young gentleman of promising tal- 
ents, who had a captain's commission in the provincial 
troops, employed in the celebrated attack against Cartha- 
gena, under admiral Vernon. On his return, Lawrence 
married the daughter of the honourable William Fairfax, 
and settled on his patrimonial estate ; which, through re- 
spect to his admiral, he called Mount Vernon. He was af- 
terwards made adjutant-general of the militia of Virginia ; 
but did not long survive the appointment. He left one 
daughter, who died young ; and his second brother also, 
having died without children, the major succeeded to Mount 
Vernon. The genius of Washington was on the point of 
Ipeing: exercised on a different element from that on which 



84 HISTORY OF 

he has been already introduced. At the age of fifteen, he 
was entered as a midshipman in the British navy ; but his 
mother, then a widow, unwilling that he should be employ- 
ed at so great a distance, that profession was abandoned. 

The reply which the French commander had given, 
brought matters to a crisis. The Virginia assembly were 
induced to organize a regiment, in order to support the 
claims of Britam over the territory in dispute. Of this, 
Mr. Fry was appointed colonel, and young Washington 
lieutenant colonel. With two companies, the latter 
pushed forward as far as the Great Meadows ; where 
he surprised and captured, in the night, a party of French 
who were advancing towards the English settlements. 
Shortly afterwards, Mr. Fry died, and Washington became 
commander of the regiment. Having then collected the 
whole at the Meadows, and being joined by two independ- 
ent companies, he went on to dislodge the enemy from Fort 
Duquesne (the site of the present Pittsburgh ;) a post 
which they had recently erected at the confluence of the 
Monongahela and Alleghany rivers. On his way, how^ever, 
being informed that the garrison had been strongly re- 
enforced, and that the French were again advancing with 
nine-hundred men, besides Indians, his own party not be- 
ing four-hundred, he deemed it prudent to fall back, and 
make a stand at a fort which he had thrown up previous to 
his setting out. Before he had time to complete his forti- 
fications, he was attacked by De Villier. He made a brave 
defence, behind his small unfinished works ; but, after a 
contest of nine hours, in which two-hundred of the enemy 
were killed, he was under the necessity of agreeing to a 
capitulation ; his men being allowed to march out with all 
the honours of war, to retain their arms and baggage, and 
retire, unmolested, into the inhabited parts of Virginia. 

To draw forth the colonial resources, in a uniform sys- 
tem of operations, a meeting of the governors and most 
distinguished members of the provincial assemblies was 
held at Albany, in the state of New York ; where, it was 
proposed, that a grand council should be formed, of per- 
sons chosen by the respective assemblies : which council, 
together with a governor, to be chosen by the crown, should 
be authorized to make general laws, and to raise money, 
from all the colonics, for the common defence. But this 
plan was not acceptable to the British ministry. They pro- 
posed another ; that the governors, attended by one or two 
members of their respective councils, which were, for the 



THE UNITED STATES. 85 

most part, of royal appointment, should concert measures 
for the whole colonies ; erect forts, and raise troops : with 
power to draw on the English treasury, in the first instance; 
but the expense to be ultimately reimbursed by a tax laid 
on the colonies by act of fiarliament. This plan was as 
much disrelished by the colonies, as the former had been by 
the British ministry. Having been communicated, through 
one of the royal governors, to Dr. Franklin, and his opinion 
thereon requested, this sagacious patriot expressed his sen- 
timents in writing ; and, by his strong reasoning powers, 
discovered, in the intended measure, the germe of a con- 
troversy in which he himself holds so conspicuous and 
honourable a place. 

By whatever means, however, the supplies were to be 
raised, both England and the colonies agreed that no time 
should be lost in commencing the military operations. It 
was therefore resolved to drive the French from the Ohio, 
and from all the posts which they held within the limits 
claimed by the king of Great Britahi. To effect the first 
, - purpose, general Braddock was sent from Europe to 
Virginia, with two regiments ; where he was joined 
by as many as increased his force to twenty-two-hundred 
men. He was a brave man ; but his bravery was unaccom- 
panied by experience. He was strict in the camp; but his 
strictness was tinctured with severity, and his severity ap- 
proached to arrogance. He particularly slighted the colo- 
nial militia, and the Virginia officers. Washington, who 
acted as aid-de-camp of the general, asked permission to 
go before him, and scour the woods with provincial troops; 
who were well acquainted with that service. But this was 
refused. Braddock, with twelve-hundred men, pushed on, 
incautiously, until, on the 9th of July, within a few miles 
of Fort Duquesne, he fell into an ambuscade of French and 
Indians. The invisible enemy commenced a heavy and well- 
directed fire on his uncovered troops. The van was forced 
back on the main body, and the whole was thrown into con- 
fusion. The slaughter was dreadful: particularly amongst 
the officers. In a short time, Washington was the only aid- 
de-camp left alive, and not wounded. He had two horses 
shot under him, and four bullets passed through his coat: 
but he escaped unhurt. Throughout the whole of the car- 
nage and confusion, he displayed the greatest coolness and 
self-possession. Braddock, too, was undismayed, amidst 
a shower of bullets ; and by his countenance and example 
encouraged his men to stand their ground : but valour was 
8 



86 HISTORY OF 

useless, and discipline only offered a surer mark to the de- 
structive aim of unseen marksmen. The action lasted near- 
ly three hours, and seven-hundred men were killed upon 
the spot. The general had three horses shot under him, 
and received a mortal wound. All the officers in the Brit- 
ish regiments evinced the utmost bravery : their whole 
number was eighty-five ; of whom sixty-four were killed or 
wounded. Their men were so disconcerted, by the unusual 
mode of attack, and the dreadful war-whoop of the Indians, 
that they soon broke, and could not be rallied : but the pro- 
vincials, more accustomed to the scene, were much less af- 
fected. They continued, an unbroken body, under colonel 
Washington, and covered the retreat of their associates. 

Three successive campaigns had procured nothing but 
expense and disappointment. The French had the com- 
mand of the lakes, a complete ascendency over the Indians, 
and were in possession of the whole country which pro- 
duced the war. With an inferior force, they had been suc- 
cessful in every campaign ; in Anxerica, in Europe, and in 
Asia. Gloomy apprehensions were entertained as to the 
destiny of the British colonies. These fears were soon re- 

y moved. A change of ministry took place. William 
Pitt, (afterwards lord Chatham,) was intrusted with 
the public helm. To despair, succeeded hope; and to hope, 
victory. His active mind, and enterprising genius, seem- 
ed to infuse themselves throughout the empire,— through 
the senate and the people, the army and the navy. Sup- 
plies were granted with liberality, and given without re- 
luctance : soldiers enlisted freely, and fought with enthu- 
siasm. In a short time, the French were dispossessed, not 

1759 ^^^^ of all the territories in dispute, but of Quebec, 
and her ancient province of Canada; so that all that 
remained to her, of her numerous settlements in North 
America, was New Orleans, with a few plantations on the 
Mississippi. The French regular troops were transported 
to France : the Canadians, being secured in the possession 
of their property, and in the undisturbed enjoyment of their 
religion, submitted, and took the oath of allegiance to the 
king of England. 

The siege of Quebec recalls the name of an illustrious 
British officer, the gallant Wolfe ; the general who led the 
European and colonial troops to victory before its walls, 
and fell in the moment of success. His youth, his spirit, 
his amiable and social manners, and an engagement which 
he had formed in England with the interesting object of his 



THE UNITED STATES. 87 

affections ; all, awaken the tenderest sympathies of a gener- 
ous breast. The name of Wolfe will be recollected with a 
pleasing sorrow. The closing scene of his military glory, 
drawn by the commanding pencil of Barry, and of West, 
will be a lasting subject of admiration. 
._ After hostilities had raged nearly eight years, a 

general peace was concluded. France ceded Canada 
to Great Britain ; and Spain, having tiken part in the war, 
relinquished, as the price of recovering Havanna, both East 
and West Florida ; leaving Britain in possession of an ex- 
tent of country equal to the combined dimensions of several 
kingdoms in Europe. The addition of Canada on the north, 
and the Floridas on the south, made her almost sole mis- 
tress of the northern continent.* 

Important considerations attended the termination of this 
colonial struggle. To enable us to form a judicious esti- 
mate of the contending arguments, it will be useful to re- 
late the occurrences by which they were preceded. As 
often as pecuniary or military aid had been required from 
the colonies, during the continuance af that widely-extend- 
ed warfare, requisitions were made to their respective le- 
gislatures ; which, in general, Avere cheerfully answered. 
Very powerful assistance was given. Four-hundred colo- 
nial privateers cruised with successful vigilance, and twen- 
ty-four-thousand provincial soldiers co-operated with the 
English regulars in North America. 

The recent addition to the British empire, of those vast 
regions, which would gradually be advancing in population 
and in power, not only excited the jealousy of sovereigns, 
but occasioned doubts in the minds of enlightened politi- 
cians, that acquisitions so immense would contribute to the 
welfare of the parent state. To combine, in one uniform 
system of government, the extensive territory then subject- 
ed to the British sway, appeared to men of reflection an 
impracticable task. Nor were they mistaken in their con- 
jectures. The high sentiments of liberty and independence, 
nurtured in the colonies, from their local situation and hab- 
its of society, were increased by the removal of hostile 
neighbours. War, also, had left impressions no less ef- 
fective on their future destination. They had gained ex- 
perience in the field, and confidence in their own ability. 
Foreseeing their importance, from the rapid increase of 
their numbers, and extension of their commerce j and be- 

• The Spaniards regained the Floridas, in the great American wa^'? 



88 HISTORY OF 

ing jealous of their rights ; they readily admitted, and with 
pleasure indulged, ideas favourable to independence : and, 
whilst combustible materials were collecting in the new 
world, a brand to enkindle them was preparing in the old. 
Duriiig their infancy, Great Britain regarded her planta- 
tions as mere instruments of commerce. Without charg- 
ing herself with the care of their internal police, or seeking 
from them a revenue, she was contented with a monopoly 
of their trade. Until the year 1764, the colonial regulations 
seemed to have no other object than the common good of 
the whole empire. But a new era of political experiment 
then commenced. When the colonies had grcAvn more 
capable of resisting impositions, s'ne changed the ancient 
system, under which they had long flourished. When pru- 
dence would have dictated a relaxation of her authority, 
she rose in her demands, and multiplied her restraints. She 
enacted that their bills of credit should cease to have legal 
currency, and commenced the anomalous system of raising 
from them an efficient revenue, by direct internal taxes, 
laid by authority of parliament ; a measure, universally re- 
probated, as contrary to their natural and chartered rights, 
and now brought forward as a means of reducing her na- 
tional debt, amounting to nearly one-hundred-and-fifty -mil- 
lions sterling. The minister urged, that it was reasonable 
the colonies should contribute a just portion of the expen- 
ses incurred by the late war, which had originated on their 
account. To this principle, the latter made no objections ; 
but, whilst they admitted the principle, they opposed the 
manner of enforcement. They believed, that the chief ex- 
cellence of the British constitution lay in the right of the 
subjects to grant, or to withhold, taxes : and in their hav- 
ing a share in the enactment of laws, by which they were 
to be governed ; and, as they were not represented in the 
British parliament, that they should not be obliged to con- 
tribute what that body might find it their interest to exact. 
At the time of that disastrous warfare, in which Wash- 
ington rose upon the ruins of the incautious Braddock, re- 
solutions had passed the British parliament for laying a 
stamp-duty in America; but they were not followed imme- 
diately by any legislative act. The declaratory opinion of 
that body met no opposition, on either side of the Atlantic; 
because, " the omnipotence of parliament'* was then a fa- 
miliar phrase : but, afterwards, when the measure was ex- 
amined, it was better understood, and constitutional objec- 
tions were urged by many sagacious statesmen, both in 



THE UNITED STATES. 89 

England and America. But, notwithstanding the powerful 
reasons offered against this unjust and hazardous experi- 
ment, George Grenville, impelled by a partiality for a long- 
._- cherished scheme, in the following year, again 
brought into the house of commons this unpopular 
bill, and succeeded in its enactment. By this, the instru- 
ments of writing in daily use among&t a commercial people, 
were to be null and void, unless executed on paper or 
parchment stamped with a specific duty. Law documents 
and leases, articles of apprenticeship and contracts, pro- 
tests and bills of sale, newspapers and advertisements, al- 
manacs and pamphlets, — all, must contribute to the British 
treasury. 

When the measure was examined, Charles Townshend 
delivered a speech in its favour ; in concluding which, 
" Will these Americans," he said " children planted by 
our care, nourished by our indulgence, till they are grown 
up to a degree of strength and opulence, and protected by 
our arms; will they grudge to contribute their mite, to re- 
lieve us from the weight of that heavy burthen under 
w^hich we lie ?" — " They, planted by your care I" replied 
colonel Barre: "No; they were planted by your oppres- 
sions. They fled from tyranny, to an uncultivated, unhos- 
pitable country, where they exposed themselves to all the 
hardships to which human nature is liable ; and, amongst 
others, to the cruelty of a savage foe, the most subtle, and, 
I will take it upon me to say, the most formidable, people, 
on the face of this earth : and yet, actuated by principles 
of true English liberty, they met all hardships with pleas- 
ure, compared with what they had sufHered in their own 
country, from the hands of those that should have been 
their friends. They, nourished by your indulgence ! They 
grew up by your neglect. As soon as you began to extend 
your care, that care was displayed in sending persons to 
rule them, in one department and another, who were, per- 
haps, the deputies of deputies to some members of thia 
house; sent to spy out their liberties, to misrepresent their 
actions, and to prey upon their substance : men, whose be- 
haviour, on many occasions, has caused the blood of those 
sons of freedom to recoil within them : men promoted to 
the highest seats of justice — some, who, to my knowledge, 
were glad, by going to a foreign country, to escape being 
brought to the bar of a court of justice in their own. They, 
protected by your arms 1 They have i.obly taken up arms 
in your defence, have exerted a valour, amidst their con- 
, 8* 



90 HISTORY OF 

stant and laborious industry, for the defence of a country, 
whose frontier was drenched in blood, while its interior 
parts yielded all its little savings to your emolument. And, 
believe me, that the same spirit of freedom which actuated 
these people at first, will accompany them still : — but, pru- 
dence forbids me to explain myself farther. God knows, 
I do not, at this time, speak from any motives of party heat. 
I deliver the genuine sentiments of my heart. However 
superior to me, in general knowledge and experience, the 
respectable body of this house may be, yet, I claim to know 
more of America than most of you ; having seen that coun- 
try, and been conversant with its people. They are, I be- 
lieve, as truly loyal as any subjects'the king has; but a 
people jealous of their liberties, and who will vindicate 
them, if ever they should be violated. But the subject is 
too delicate : I will say no more." 

The night after the bill passed. Dr. Franklin wrote to 
Mr. Charles Thomson, " The sun of liberty is set ; you must 
light up the candles of industry and economy." — Mr. Thom- 
son answered: "I was apprehensive that other lights would 
be the consequence, and I foresee the opposition that will 
be made," 

By a clause in the stamp-act, it was not to have opera- 
tion until the first day of November; a period of more than 
seven months from its passing. This gave the colonists 
an opportunity of leisurely examining the subject, and 
viewing it on every side. The voice of legislative oppo- 
sition was, at this time, first heard in Virginia. In an an- 
imated speech, Mr. Patrick Henry, on the 20th of May, 
brought into the house of burgesses in that colony a num- 
ber of resolutions, which were substantially adopted, and 
which concluded by declaring, " That every individual, 
who, by speaking or acting, should assert or maintain, that 
any person, or body of men, except the general assembly 
of the province, had any right to impose taxation there, 
should be deemed an enemy to his majesty's colony." 

" Caesar," exclaimed the orator, " had his Brutus; Charles 
the first, his Cromwell ; and George the third — may profit 
by his example." 

A declaration, similar to that of Virginia, had been made, 
nearly a century before, in Massachusetts. 

Those resolutions were immediately disseminated through 
the other provinces. The tongues and pens of the welU 
informed citizens laboured in kindling the latent sparks of 
patriotism. The fire of liberty blazed forth from the press. 



THE UNITED STATES. 91 

and its influence became general. As the assemblies met, 
they displayed a similar feeling. The people, in their town 
meetings, instructed their representatives to oppose the in- 
novation. The assembly in Massachusetts (before the ar- 
rival of the Virginia declarations) passed a resolution in 
favour of a continental Congress ; fixed a day in October for 
its meeting in New York, and sent letters to the speakers 
of the other assemblies, requesting their concurrence. 

This first advance towards a union was seconded by 
South Carolina. "The other colonies, too, with the excep- 
tion of Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia, prevented 
by their governors, and New Hampshire, which dissented 
from the proposition, espoused the invitation, and assem- 
bled at the appointed place. Here, they agreed on a de- 
claration of their rights, and a statement of their grievances; 
asserting, in strong language, their exemption from all 
taxes, not imposed by their own representatives ; and drew 
up a petition to the king, with memorials to the house of 
lords and the house of commons. 

There was, however, a considerable degree of timidity 
evinced in this congress ; and the members were on no 
measure unanimous. Thomas Ruggles, of New York, who 
presided, refused to affix his name to the memorial, though 
he had, throughout the debate, apparently accorded with 
the sentiments which they expressed ; and Mr. Ogden, 
then speaker of the New Jersey assembly, followed his ex- 
ample : for which conduct, he was burned in effigy, in ma- 
ny counties of his province, and removed from his situation. 
The boldest, and most impressive arguments were offered 
by James Otis of Massachusetts ; who was one of the earli- 
est patriots of that time, and fell a private sacrifice to the 
cause which he had so fearlessly defended. 

At length, arrived the first of November ; the day on 
■which the obnoxious impost was to commence its opera- 
tion. The general aversion to the act was demonstrated 
in a variety of ways. The people of Boston forcibly dis- 
played their feelings. The morning which matured its 
existence spoke forth its destroying agency in the mourn- 
ful accents of the funeral knell ; many shops and stores 
were closed ; effigies of the unpopular characters were pa- 
raded through the streets, and exposed to that derision 
which was merited by the originals. At Portsmouth, in 
New Hampshire, the day was ushered in with similar evi- 
dence of hostility and grief. The proceedings there were 
remarkably affecting. In the course of the day, notice 



92 HISTORY OF 

having been given to the friends of Liberty to attend her 
funeral, a cofiin, neatly ornamented and inscribed with the 
word, " Liberty," was carried to the grave. The proces- 
sion moved forward from the state-house, attended by un-- 
braced drums. Minute guns were fired, and continued 
until the coffin arrived at the place of interment. Then, 
an eulogium on the deceased was pronounced. It was 
scarcely ended, before the coffin was taken up ; it having 
been perceived that some remains of life were left : the in- 
scription was immediately altered to " Liberty Revived :" 
the bells exchanged their melancholy, for a joyful sound, 
and satisfaction appeared in every countenance. 

Notwithstanding that the stamp law was to have operated 
from the first of November, yet legal proceedings in the 
courts were carried on as before : vessels entered and de- 
parted without stamped papers : printers boldly circulated 
their newspapers, and, in most departments, business was 
conducted, by common consent, in defiance of the parlia- 
ment, as if no stamp act was in existence. The people of 
Philadelphia, and, after them, nearly all the commercial 
portion of English America, prohibited lawyers from in- 
stituting any action for money due to an inhabitant of Eng- 
land. Nor was their determined spirit of opposition con- 
fined to a mere defensive means of parliamentary defeat. 
Still farther measures were adopted. Associations were 
formed against importing British manufactures, until that 
law should be repealed ; which, by throwing many thousands 
in the mother country out of employment, and depriving 
her merchants of the usual benefits attending extensive or- 
ders, made it the interest of both classes in England to 
advocate the cause of the Americans. 

In order to remedy the deficiency of British goods, the 
colonists applied with diligence to domestic manufactures : 
to increase the quantity of wool, they abstained from eat- 
ing lamb : and to form a barrier against the enforcement of 
the obnoxious act, they resolved to protect, by force of 
arms, all who should be in danger from resistance. 
,.,-- Conduct so generous and firm had the desired ef- 
fect. Warm discussions followed in the British par- 
liament. The marquis of Rockingham, much esteemed for 
his sincerity and the vigour of his genius, was appointed 
first lord of the treasury in the room of George Grenville ; 
and general Conway was called to fill the place of colo- 
nial secretary. Anxiously desirous to obtain a revocation 
of the obnoxious taxes, the new administration employed 



THE UNITED STATES. &3 

the opinion and authority of Dr. Franklin ; who, as agent 
for some of the colonies, was examined at the bar of the 
house of commons ; and, in that pungent manner, charac- 
teristic of his superior mind, gave extensive information, 
which served greatly to remove prejudices, and promote a 
disposition friendly to a repeal. The ablest speakers in 
both houses denied the justice of taxing the colonies. "You 
have no right," said William Pitt, "to tax America. I re- 
joice that she has resisted. Three-millions of the people, so 
lost to every sense of virtue, as voluntarily to submit to be 
slaves, would have been fit instruments to make slaves of 
all the rest." The opposition could not be withstood : the 
repeal was carried in March ; an event which caused great 
joy in England. The ships in the river Thames displayed 
their colours, and the city was illuminated. In America, 
the homespun clothes were presented to the poor, and or- 
ders for British goods were given more extensively than 
ever. 

But, though the taxes were repealed, the right of levying 
them was not relinquished. Simultaneously with the revo- 
cation, was passed the declaratory act, purporting that the 
legislature of Great Britain had aright to make laws to bind 
the colonies in all cases whatever. This alleged power 
would not, however, it was thought, have been used, had 
not the Rockingham administration been displaced by the 
baneful counsel of lord Bute; who was erabledto influence 
the king, in consequence of having superintended his edu- 
cation. The chief reins of government were now given to 
the duke of Grafton. Charles Townshend, the new chancel- 
lor of the exchequer, immediately procured a bill for grant- 
ing in the colonies, duties on glass, paper, painters' colours, 
and tea. 

The fire of opposition, which had been deprived of its 
fuel by the repeal of the former impost, was now kindled, 
with additional ardour, by the same principle exhibited in 
its new form. John Dickenson, of Pennsylvania, was an 
able advocate of his country's rights. He attracted public 
notice in a series of letters, signed " A Farmer ;" proving 
the extreme danger that threatened the liberties of Ameri- 
ca, from submission to a precedent establishing the claim 
of parliamentary taxation. Dr. Franklin afterwards pub- 
lished a number of pieces, much in the style of the Irish 
patriot, Swift ; which, by their excellent M'it and humour, 
combined with the pointed justness of the allegory, had a 
powerful influence on the understanding of the people. 



94 HISTORY OF 

Virginia held a pen which poured forth conviction in the 
captivating style of classic elegance. The Monitor's Let- 
ters, by Dr. Lee ; a Summary View of the Rights of Brit- 
ish America, by Thomas Jefferson ; an Inquiry into the 
Rights of the British Colonies, by Richard Bland ; and 
t^ Considerations," by Robert Carter Nicholas, as well as the 
memorials, remonstrances, and other public acts of that 
colony ; were all written in a masterly manner. South 
Carolina produced a poem, entitled ^' Liberty," under the 
assumed name of Rusticus ; which, for dignity and vigour, 
will vie with any that has ever appeared, on the subject of 
politics. Its motto, " Et viajores vestros et posteros coffi- 
tatCy*' (Think of your fathers, and your posterity,) was hap- 
pily appropriate ; addressing every noble and generous 
aifection of the human breast. The controversy was ably 
supported also in New England. The subsequent orations 
of Warren and Hancock, in commemoration of the affray 
in which their fellow-citizens of Boston v/ere slain, exhibit 
fine specimens of impassioned eloquence. But, the most 
powerful writer was the celebrated Thomas Paine, at that 
period in America; who, in a work entitled Common Sense, 
roused the public feeling to a degree unequalled by any 
previous appeal. 

As might have been expected, the new duties gave rise 
to a second association for suspending importations of Brit- 
ish manufactures Uniformity in this measure was pro- 
moted by the Mass^achusetts' assembly ; whose activity 
drew forth the marked displeasure of the crown. They 
were ordered to cancel their resolutions ; and, on their re- 
fusal, were dissolved. 

The bad humour which already so much prevailed, was 
. wg about this time inflamed to a high degree of resent- 
ment and violence, by the seizure of Mr. Hancock's 
sloop Liberty, for not having entered all the wines she had 
brought from Pvladeira ; a refusal made in accordance with 
the recent spirit of non-importation. Soon afterwards, two 
regiments and some armed vessels arrived in Boston, to 
assist the revenue officers in the execution of their duty. 
These served to restrain the fury of the multitude ; but they 
increased the displeasure and vigilance of the more import- 
ant members of society. Out of ninety-seven townships, 
deputies from ninety-six attended a convention in that town, 
reviewed the transactions of the past, turned their minds to 
the alarming prospect of the future, and stated to the world 
their opinions, and the causes of their meeting. 



THE UNITED STATES. 95 

Encouraged by the ex'pectation of quelling the refracto- 
ry by arms, or by the too often tried system of division, 
the parliament, for a while, maintained with obstinacy 
their determination to enforce the duties. They continued 
to dissolve the opposing assemblies, and even threatened 
still farther infringements and severity. But the colonists 
retained their accustomed finnness : each inroad upon 
their rights arrayed a new sacrifice of commercial advan- 
tage, a fresh retrenchment of domestic luxury and comfort. 
This collision, the mercantile and manufactviring classes in 
England having felt with destructive force, lord North, who 
had succeeded the duke of Grafton as prime minister, 

„y dreading the effects of popular resentment, paused 
for a moment in the career of ruin and disgrace, 
and obtained a repeal of the duties on glass, paper, and 
painters* colours, — but retained it upon the tea. 

This concession was followed by a temporary calm. 
From the pledges then given by the British government, 
that they would not again attempt to lay taxes on the colo- 
nies for the purpose of revenue, and from the various 
sources by which they were supplied with tea, without be- 
ing under the necessity of infringing their determinations 
against importing it from Great Britain, the mercantile in- 
tercourse with the mother country was renewed; and many 
hoped that the contention was closed for ever. In all the 
provinces, except Massachusetts, appearances favoured 
that opinion. But many incidents operated there, to dis- 
turb that harmony which had begun, in other places, to re- 
turn. The stationing of a military force amongst the in- 
habitants in that province, was a fruitful source of uneasi- 
ness. Reciprocal insults soured the tempers, and mutual 
injuries embittered the passions, of the opposite parties. 
Some high-spirited persons in Boston, who thought it an 
indignity to have troops quartered on them, were constant- 
ly exciting the populace to quarrel with the soldiers. On 
the secontl of March, an affray took place between a private 
soldier and an inhabitant: on the fifth, a party, when under 
arms, were insulted by a mob, pelted with stones, and dared 
to fire ; and, at length, unable to withstand the increasing 
violence, a few muskets being discharged, by which three 
men were killed, nothing but an engagement to remove the 
army from the town, prevented the inhabitants from taking 
immediate revenge. The captain who commanded, and 
the privates who fired on the people, were tried on a charge 
of murder, but acquitted ; a result which reflects great 



S6 HISTORY OF 

honour on their counsel, John Adams and Josiah Quincey, 
and also upon the jury; on the one, for thus boldly exertmg 
their professional abilities ; on the other, for giving an up- 
right verdict, in defiance of popular opinion or resentment. 

" The events of that tragical night," observes a well-in- 
formed historian, " sunk deep into the minds of the people, 
and were made subservient to important purposes. The 
anniversary of it was observed with great solemnity. Elo- 
quent orators were successively employed, to deliver an 
annual oration, to preserve the remembrance of it fresh in 
their minds ; and thus, the blessings of liberty, the horrors 
of slavery, the dangers of the standing army, the rights of 
the colonies, were presented to the public, in their most 
pleasing and alarming forms." 

From these, and other occurrences not imperiously es- 
sential to be noticed in the pages of an epitome, no ether 
than the most guarded conduct, on both sides, could pre- 
vent a universal explosion. But an impolitic scheme, after- 
wards concerted between the British ministry and the East 
India Company, led the contending parties again on the 
disputed ground, and formed them in hostile array against 
each other. 

_ « The company were now authorized to export their 
tea, to all places, free of duty. By this regulation, 
that article, though loaded, in the colonies, with an excep- 
tionable impost, would be cheaper, there, than before it 
was made a source of revenue; for, the duty thus removed 
when exported from Great Britain, was greater than that 
to be paid on its importation into America. Confident, 
therefore, of success, in finding a market for their tea, in 
this manner lowered in its price, and also of collecting a 
duty on it in the colonies, the company freighted several 
ships with this commodity, and appointed agents for its 
disposal. However, as the time approached when their 
arrival might be expected, such measures were adopted, 
as were the most likely to prevent the landing of their car- 
goes. The consignees were in several places compelled 
to relinquish their appointments : the pilots, in the Dela- 
ware, were warned not to conduct any of the tea-ships into 
that river ; and, in New York, popular vengeance was de- 
nounced against all who would contribute, in any measure, 
to forward the views of the East Iiidia Company. In con- 
sequence, the captains, destined to New York and Philadel- 
phia, returned directly to Great Britain, without making 
any entry at the custom-house. But it was otherwise at 



THE UNITED STATES. 97 

Boston. The tea, for the supply of that port, was consign- 
ed to the sons and particular friends of governor Hutchin- 
son. They were resolute in their determination to receive 
it ; the custom-house officers and the governor equally 
strenuous to prevent the vessels from departing, without a 
regular entry and clearance. A new method of defence, 
therefore, became necessary. What was so zealously im- 
posed for their consumption, the people, with a correspond- 
ing energy, were determined to destroy. Countenanced 
by the general voice, a party, dressed as Indians, boarded 
the tea-ships, broke open their cargoes, and threw the con- 
tents into the sea. 

The event of this business was very different from what 
had been expected in England. With so much vigour had 
the colonists acted, that there was not a single chest sold, 
of all that were sent out by ihe East India Company, 
j-w Enraged against the people of Boston, the parlia- 

ment resolved to take legislative vengeance on that 
devoted town. Disregarding the forms of the British con- 
stitution, by which none are to be condemned unheard, or 
punished without a trial, they passed a bill, closing, in a 
commercial sense, its port : and, soon afterwards, its cus- 
tom-house officers, and consequently its trade, were re- 
moved to Salem ; there, to remain, until reparation should 
be made for the property destroyed. The charter of the 
colony was new-modeled; so that the whole executive gov- 
ernment was taken from the people, and the nomination 
to all important offices vested in the crown. Nor was this 
thought sufficient. It was enacted, that if any person was 
indicted for murder, or for any capital offence committed 
in aiding the magistrates, the government might send him 
to another colony, or to Great Britain, to be tried ; a pre- 
caution evidently superfluous ; as a remarkable proof of 
the dispassionate administration of justice in Massachusetts, 
stood recorded, in the case of the British officer and his 
party. 

Property, liberty, and life, were thus subjected to minis- 
terial caprice. But, though these violations excited grief, 
they failed to produce terror, amongst the Americans. 
They awoke the indiflfereni; they inflamed the ardent. One 
soul now animated nearly all the colonies. The parlia- 
ment, notwithstanding, did not rest here : they advanced 
another step ; which increased their enemies on one side of 
the Atlantic, and alienated their friends on the other. They 
passed an act, relating to the government of Canada j by 
9 



93 HISTORY OF 

which, its boundaries were extended southward to the Ohio, 
westward to the Mississippi, and northward to the borders 
of the Hudson's Bay Company : its laws were assimilated 
to the French : dispensing, in civil cases, with the trial by 
jury : thereby, rendering its inhabitants passive agents in 
the hands of power ; to aid, it was supposed, in deterring 
the neighbouring provinces, and imposing on them consti- 
tutions modeled after the same form. 

Within little more than a month after the intelligence of 
these arrangements reached America, it was communicat- 
ed from state to state : and a flame was kindled in almost 
every breast, through the widely-extended provinces. 

In order to understand the mode by which this feeling 
was spread, with so great rapidity, over so large an extent 
of country, it is necessary to observe, that the several colo- 
nies were divided into counties, and these subdivided into 
districts. Accordingly, under the association formed to 
oppose the revenue act of 1767, committees had been estab- 
lished, not only in the capitals of every province, but in 
most of the subordinate divisions ; an important and indis- 
pensable means of union, which was at this period revived. 

The British cabinet had no sooner finally resolved on 
closing the port of Boston, than they determined to order 
thither a large military force. General Gage, the com- 
mander-in-chief of North America, was sent, in the addi- 
tional capacity of governor of Massachusetts ; and, soon 
afterwards, two regiments of foot, with a detachment of ar- 
tillery, arrived ; and reinforcements from Ireland, New 
York, Halifax, and Quebec. 

Hitherto, Boston had been the seat of commerce and 
plenty. The scene was now reversed; and every class was 
affected by the change. The income of landholders either 
entirely ceased, or was much diminished : the immense pro- 
perty expended on stores and wharves, was rendered com- 
pletely useless. Labourers, artificers, and others, employ- 
ed in the numerous occupations arising from an extensive 
trade, felt the general calamity ; a calamity rendered more 
intolerable, from the recollection of past enjoyments. Yet, 
all these inconveniences and hardships were borne with in- 
vincible fortitude. Their determination to persist in the 
same line of conduct which had been the occasion of their 
sufferings, was unabated. If they had not a prospect of 
mercy from their oppressors, they had the consolation of 
sympathy from their friends. Addresses poured in from 
corporate towns, town meetings, and provincial assemblies, 



THE UNITED STATES. 99 

applauding their conduct ; and aid was provided, to sup- 
port their perseverance. Marblehead generously offered 
to Boston the use of her harbour, wharves, and warehouses, 
and the personal attendance of her people, free of expense; 
and Salem, with a magnanimous self-denial, to which com- 
mercial annals afford no parallel, refused to adopt the trade 
of the devoted town, and build its fortune upon the wreck 
of a suffering neighbour. 

Affairs rapidly approached the crisis. Both parties tend- 
ed towards the awful collision with accelerating progress. 
The proceedings and apparent disposition of the people, 
together with the military preparations daily making 
through the province, induced general Gage to fortify the 
neck of land which joins Boston to the continent, and to 
seize the powder lodged in the arsenal at Charlestown. 
This excited a most violent ferment; Several thousand 
people assembled at Cambridge ; who were with difficulty 
restrained from marching immediately to Boston, to de- 
mand a return of the powder, and, in case of a refusal, to 
attack the troops. 

During the confusion, a rumour went abroad, that the 
royal fleet and military were firing upon Boston. In less than 
twenty-four hours, thirty-thousand Americans were in arms, 
marching towards the town : other risings of the people 
took place, in different parts of the colony ; wiiose violence 
was so great, that, in a short time, all who had taken an 
active part in favour of Great Britain were obliged to screen 
themselves in the capital. 

A provincial congress now assembled at Concord, chose 
John Hancock president, and remonstrated with the gov- 
ernor against his hostile proceedings on Boston Neck. 
Their admonitions were unavailing. In consequence, they 
resolved to enlist a number of the inhabitants, who were ob- 
liged to turn out at ^'' a minute's warning," and over whom, 
and the militia, they commissioned as general officers, 
Messrs. Pribble, Ward, Pomeroy, Thomas, and Heath. 

As the winter approached, general Gage ordered bar- 
racks to be erected for his troops ; but, so powerful was the 
influence of the popular leaders, that the workmen desisted 
from fulfilling his wishes, though their wages would have 
been regularly paid. An application to New York was 
equally unsuccessful; and similar obstructions were thrown 
in the way of getting even clothing for the winter. The 
merchants of this city answered, that they would never sup- 
ply any article for the benefit of men sent to the country as 



100 HISTORY OF 

enemies. The farmers in Massachusetts were discouraged 
from selling them straw, timber, boards, and such articles 
of convenience. The first, when purchased for the royal 
service, was frequently overturned : vessels with brick were 
sunk, and carts with wood overturned. 

Measures of a still more decisive character were taken. 
At Newport, in Rhode Island, the people seized and re- 
moved from the public battery, about forty pieces of can- 
non ; and at Portsmouth, in New Hampshire, a company 
of volunteers, headed by John Sullivan and John Langdon, 
having attacked the royal castle, secured the garrison, un- 
til they got possession of the powder. Cannon balls and 
other instruments of war, were carried from Boston to 
places of safety in the country, through the English guards, 
in carts apparently lor/led with manure ; and powder was 
conveyed in the panniers and baskets of persons returning 
from the market. 

Meanwhile, on the 5th of September, a general congress 
of the American states assembled in Philadelphia. Their 
place of meeting was Carpenter's Hail; their president, 
Peyton Randolph of Virginia ; their secretary, Charles; 
Thomson of Pennsylvania. Twelve colonies were now re- 
presented; comprising all the old British settlements ex- 
cept Georgia : which from prudential reasons, satisfactory 
to the others, had not elected deputies. This august bo- 
dy, containing the first virtue and talent in the colonies, en- 
tered into a non-importation, non-consumption, and non- 
exportation agreement, prepared addresses to the people 
and the sovereign of Great Britain, as well as to all the in- 
habitants of North America ; and directed their attention 
to every means of averting the dreadful calamity of civil 
war. These, which were drawn under the immediate dic- 
tation of Messrs. Livingston and J^y ; Adams, Johnson, 
John Dickinson, and Rutledge ; are distinguished for their 
pure and constitutional principles, and commanding ener- 
gy of style. 

Having, in the following month, finished their hnportant 
business, they dissolved ; after recommending that another 
congress should be held on the 10th of May, in the ensuing 
year, in case a redress of their grievances was not previous- 
ly obtained. 

Impressed with a lively feeling of the sweets of liberty, 
and a high respect for the members of the late assembly, 
the greatest zeal was evinced, by a large majority of the 
people, to comply with their determinations. Whilst the 



THE UNITED STATES. 101 

forms of the old government subsisted, a new and inde- 
pendent authority was really established. It was so gener- 
ally the sense of the people that the public good required 
a compliance with the recommendations of congress, that 
any man who discovwed anxiety about the continuance of 
trade, was viewed as a selfish individual, preferring his own 
interest to the good of his country. But the intemperate 
zeal of the populace frequently transported them so far be- 
yond the limits of moderation, as to apply unjustifiable 
punishments to persons who contravened the general opin- 
ion of the community. Some were placed beneath a pump, 
and underwent forcible ablution ; others, after being smear- 
ed with tar, were rolled in feathers, and, in this st\te, ex- 
posed to the ridicule of the spectators : yet, a more com- 
mon mode, was to treat them with contempt and scorn ; 
arising in particular cases, to an exclusion from all social 
intercourse; and to placard their names, with the appella- 
tions of tories, traitors, cowards, and enemies. 

When the British parliament assembled, the king, in his 
speech, dwelt strongly on the tumultuous proceedings in 
Massachusetts. An address from the commons, in reply, 
recommending the punishment of that colony, brought on, 
as usual, a spirited debate. In the house of lords, a con- 
ciliatory plan was offered by the venerable Chatham, and 
supported by ail the force of his unrivaled eloquence. But, 
in both cases, the ministerial benches overthrew the oppo- 
sition, by a large majority ; and petitions, in favour of pa- 
cific measures, from the chief manufacturing and commer- 
cial towns, were consigned to dishonourable oblivion. In- 
deed, this line of conduct might very naturally be embraced; 
when it is considered, that the minister received all his in- 
formation respecting the colonial ferment from agents in 
America, who, in the true spirit of lord Chesterfield's sys- 
tem of flattery and deceit, transmitted their reports in ac- 
cordance with the preconceptions of their employers. The 
maxim which teaches the hearing of both parties is seldom 
found within the precincts of a court. Upon this repre^* 
sentation, a bill was passed to restrain the general com- 
merce of the colonies : from whicli law, however, New 
York, Delaware, and North Carolina, were exempted, ap- 
parently to create disunion ; and at the same time the de- 
termhiation was matured, of arresting the progiess of 
American disaffection by an overwhelming army. 

But the ministers were again defeated. The g-olden har- 
vest thus offered to the latter, was suffered to fall unreap- 
9* 



102 HISTORY OF 

ed : and preparations on the one side were answered by in- 
listments on the other. The coercive measures of the pa- 
rent state inclined the colonies to extend their claims. 
Hatred took the place of kind affections, and the calamities 
of war were substituted for the benefits of commerce. 

Meanwhile, the leading men of Massachusetts were, with 
admirable prudence and address, preparing for the last ex- 
tremity. They were furnishing the people with arms, and 
training the militia. They had also collected and stored 
provisions in several places, particularly at Concord, about 
twenty miles from Boston. These, general Gage now de- 
termined to destroy. He wished to prevent hostilities, by 
depriving the inhabitants of the means of conducting war : 
for, though zealous in his royal master's service, he dis- 
covered a prevailing desire of a peaceable accommodation; 
and, wishing to accomplish his object without bloodshed, 
took every precaution to effect it by surprise. At eleven 
o'clock at night, on the 1 8th of April, eight-hundred 
grenadiers and light infantry marched for Concord, 
under the command of colonel Smith. But neither the 
secrecy with which this expedition was designed, nor the 
silent hour chosen for its march, was sufficient to conceal 
the intelligence of its movements from the country militia. 
About two in the ensuing morning, a hundred-and-thirty 
of the Lexington corps, under captain Parker, had assem- 
bled in that town, to oppose them. These, however, from 
the uncertainty as to the British soldiers appearing, were 
dismissed ; with orders to muster again at beat of drum. 
Between four and five in the morning, seventy of their 
number had again collected ; and, soon afterwards, the Eng- 
lish regulars approached. The officer who led the ad- 
vanced guard rode up to the militia, and called out; "Dis- 
perse, you rebels ; throw down your arms, and disperse." 
They still however continued in a body ; on which, he dis- 
charged his pistol, and ordered his soldiers to fire. This 
was done with an huzza. The militia returned a few shots; 
three or four of their number were killed on the green ; 
and a few more when dispersing. The royal detachment 
then proceeded to Concord ; where they disabled two can- 
non, and destroyed the public stores. Here, they experi- 
enced farther opposition. They were assailed by a party 
of militia under colonel Barrett, were allowed not a mo- 
ment for refreshment, and began a retreat towards Boston. 
This was conducted with expedition. The adjacent inhabit- 
ants had assembled in arms, and attacked them in every 



THE UNITED STATES. 103 

quarter. At Lexington, the royalists were joined by nine- 
hundred men under lord Percy, sent out by general Gage 
to their support ; which reinforcement, having two pieces 
of cannon, awed the provincials, and kept them at a great- 
er distance ; but they continued a constant, though irregu- 
lar fire, which did great execution. A little after sunset, the 
regulars reached Bunker's Hill, worn down by excessive 
fatigue, and smarting with their wounds ; having marched 
that day between thirty and forty miles, and been employed 
in their retreat by ah uninterrupted battle. On the next 
day, they crossed Charlestown ferry, and returned to Bos- 
ton. Their loss was sixty -five killed, besides two-hundred- 
and-eight wounded and made prisoners ; that of the pro- 
vincials, fifty killed, and thirty-eight wounded and missing. 

Intelligence that the British troops had marched out of 
Boston into the country, on some hostile purpose, being 
forwarded from one committee to another, great bodies of 
the militia, not only of Massachusetts, but of the adjacent 
colonies, grasped their arms and flew to olfer battle. The 
Americans who had fallen were revered by their country. 
Resentment against the British burned more strongly than 
before. The forts, magazines, and arsenals, which, by the 
constitution of the country, had been in possession of the 
king, were for the most part, seized by the provincial mili- 
tia. Ticonderoga was surprised and taken by adventurer 
from different states, under the direction of colonels Allen 
and Arnold; Crown Point was captured by colonel Warner; 
and provincial money, which had been collected in conse- 
quence of previous grants, was appropriated to the com- 
mon cause. 

Hitherto, the Americans had no regular army. The 
congress of Massachusetts, then assembled at Watertown, 
ten miles from Boston, immediately after the battle of Lex- 
ington, voted, that thirty-thousand men should be raised, 
in the New England colonies. In consequence, the busi- 
ness of recruiting was begun : and, in a short time, an army, 
under the command of general Ward, was paraded in the 
vicinity of Boston, much superior in number to the royal 
troops. 

These military arrangements, were not confined to the 
New England states. They were general throughout the 
colonies. Arms and ammunition, forts and fortifications, 
were secured by the Americans, and money was coined for 
their support. But the amount of money was extremely 
small ; their forces were almost wholly destitute of experi- 



104 HISTORY OF 

enced leaders ; the arms and ammunition, lamentably defi- 
cient. When, however, they viewed the comparative 
smallness of their funds, they relied on mutual confidence 
for extension : when they reflected on their want of discip- 
line, they looked for success from their courage. Paper 
money was issued for the common benefit ; the pulpit, the 
press, the bench, and the bar, laboured to unite the people, 
and animate them to resistance.. 

About the latter end of May, a great part of the rein- 
forcements ordered from Great Britain arrived at Boston. 
Three British generals, Howe, Burgoyne, and Clinton, 
whose behaviour in the preceding war had gained them 
high reputation, came over about the same time. Thus 
strengthened, general Gage prepared for acting with more 
decision ; but, before he proceeded to extremities, he issued 
a proclamation, holding forth the alternatives of peace or 
war ; by offering pardon to all who would lay down their 
arms, and return to their respective occupations. From 
this indulgence, however, were excepted, Samuel Adams 
and John Hancock. Their off"ences were said to be of too 
flagitious a nature to admit of any other consideration than 
the severest punishment. 

As martial law was at the same time proclaimed, it was 
supposed that those measures were a prelude to open war. 
Accordingly, the Americans made preparations for the 
event. A considerable height, named Bunker's Hill, at 
the entrance of the peninsula of Charlestown, was so situ- 
ated, as to render its possession a matter of great import- 
ance, to either of the contending parties. Orders were 
therefore issued, by the provincial commanders, that colo- 
nel Prescott, with a detachment of a thousand men, should 
intrench upon its summit. But, in fulfilling the orders, an 
error was comm.itted. Instead of Bunker's, they intrench- 
ed on Breed's Hill: high and large like the other, but situ- 
ated a few hundred yards nearer to Boston. With so much 
diligence did they work, that, between midnight and the 
dawn of morning, on the seventeenth of June, they had 
thrown up a redoubt, forming a square of eight rods ; and 
so profound a silence was observed, that they were not 
heard by the British on board their vessels, though at a 
very trifling distance. The first information was given 
them when the rising sun beamed against the works, which 
filled them with amazement. An incessant firing was im- 
mediately directed against the heights. The provincials 
bore it with veteran firmness, and continued to labour until 



THE UNITED STATES. 105 

they had thrown up a small breastwork, extending from 
the east side of the redoubt to the bottom of the hill. As 
this eminence overlooked Boston, general Gage thought 
it necessary to have possession : about noon, theretore, he 
detached for this purpose generals Howe and Pigot, with 
the flower of his army and a body of marines ; making in 
the whole nearly three-thousand men. 

In the meantime, the Americans, for their farther se- 
curity, in the interval between the extremity of their trench 
and Mystic river, pulled up some post-and-rail fences, set 
them down in two parallel rows, at a small distance from 
each other, and filled the intervening space with hay. 
General Putnam, an old officer of Connecticut, directed in 
chief, aided by Pomeroy and Nolten of the same province, 
Starke of New Hampshire, and Joseph Warren, a physi- 
eian of Massachusetts. 

The king's troops formed in two lines, and advanced 
slowly, to give their artillery time to destroy the American 
works. This allowed the provincials a better opportunity 
for taking aim. They in general reserved their fire, until 
the assailants were within sixty yards, and then commenced 
a furious discharge of small-arms, loaded with balls and 
buck-shot. The stream of the American fire was so in- 
cessant, and did so great execution, that the royal troops 
retreated in disorder and precipitation. Their officers ral- 
lied them, and impelled them forward with their swords; 
but they renewed the attack with much reluctance. The 
Americans again reserved their fire, and put them a second 
time to flight. General Howe and his officers redoubled 
their exertions, and pushed on their men who were as re- 
luctant as before. At this critical juncture, generals Clin- 
ton and Burgoyne hastened from Boston with a reinforce- 
ment, the powder of the Americans began to fail, and 
their fire proportionably to slacken. The British brought 
some cannon to bear; which raked the inside of the breast- 
works from end to end : the fire from the ships and batte- 
ries was increased ; and the redoubt was attacked on three 
sides at once. Under these circumstances, a retreat from 
it was ordered ; but the provincials delayed, and made so 
long resistance, with the buts of their discharged muskets, 
the. greater part being without bayonets, that the king's 
troops had half filled the redoubt before it was abandoned. 

It was apprehended, that the enemy would improve their 
advantage, by marching immediately to the American head 
quarters at Cambridge ; but they advanced no farther than 



106 HISTORY OF 

Bunker's Hill. There, they threw up works for their o^vn 
security. The provincials did the same, on Prospect Hill, 
about a mile distant, in their front. Both were guarding 
against an attack ; and both were in a bad condition to re- 
ceive one. 

Few battles, in modern wars, produced a greater destruc- 
tion of men, than this short engagement. The loss of the 
British was one-thousand-and-fifty-four ; amongst whom, 
were nineteen officers killed, and seventy wounded. None 
of the provincials had rifles : but they were good marks- 
men, and aimed chiefly at the officers ; which accounts for 
so unusual a destruction of the latter. The Americans lost, 
in killed, wounded, and missing, four-hundred-and-fifty. 
Their number, at the commencement of the battle, was fif- 
teen-hundred ; only half the amount of the assailants. They 
particularly lamented the death of general Warren; a man, 
who, to the purest patriotism and most undaunted bravery, 
added the virtues of domestic life, the eloquence of an ac- 
complished orator, and the wisdom of an able statesman. 
He was killed in the retreat. Finding his corps hotly pur- 
sued by the enemy, despising all danger, he stood alone 
before the ranks, endeavouring to rally his troops and en- 
courage them by his example. He pointed to their ensigns, 
and reminded them of their cheering mottos. An English 
officer perceived him, and knew him ; and, having borrow- 
ed a musket, and hit him with a ball, he fell dead upon the 
spot. 

Whilst the engines of war were employed on each side 
in the business of death, the property of the Americans was 
yielding, within view, to the consuming flames. As the 
British were advancing to the attack, they received orders, 
through a military policy, to burn Charlestown ; and, in a 
short time, this ancient place, consisting of five-hundred 
buildings, chiefly of wood, was in one great blaze. The 
lofty steeple of the meeting-house formed a pyramid of fire, 
and struck the astonished eyes of numerous beholders with 
an awful spectacle. 

Congress, agreeably with an arrangement made before 
its dissolution in the preceding year, had assembled at Phil- 
adelphia, on the 10th of May. They again chose Mr. Pey- 
ton Randolph president ; and, on his being under the ne- 
cessity of returning home, Mr. Hancock. When they re- 
ceived a report of the affair at Lexington, they issued di- 
rections for retaliating commercial distress on Britain ; and, 
with their accustomed tone of moderation, dignity, and firm- 



THE UNITED STATES. 107 

ness, proceeded in the general business of the colonies. 
Once more, they addressed the king, as well as the inhabit- 
ants of Great Britain and Ireland ; and, at the same time, 
published to the world the reasons of their appeal to arms. 
" We are reduced," said they, " to the alternative of choos- 
ing an unconditional submission to the tyranny of irritated 
ministers, or resistance by force. The latter is our choice. 
We have counted the cost of this contest, and find nothing 
so dreadful as voluntary slavery.'* 

The next object was a suitable person to conduct their 
armies. In deciding this important question, there was 
only one opinion throughout the states. George Washing- 
ton was appointed, by congress, commander-in-chief of all 
the forces at that time raised, or afterwards to be embodied. 

For three years subsequent to the defeat of Braddock, 
Washington superintended the troops of Virginia; m which 
highly dangerous service, he continued, until peace was 
given to the frontiers of his native colony, by the reduction 
of Fort Duquesne; an enterprise undertaken in conformity 
with his repeated solicitations, and accompanied by himself, 
at the head of his own regiment. The arduous duties of his 
situation, rendered irksome by the invidious treatment ex- 
perienced from the governor, and by the unmanageable dis- 
position of the Oilicers and privates under his command, 
were related by himself, in a highly interesting narrative, 
and fully acknowledged by the assembly of Virginia. Soon 
afterwards, he retired to his estate at Mount Vernon, and 
pursued the arts of peaceful life, with great industry and 
success. When the proceedings of the British parliament 
had alarmed the colonists with apprehensions that a blow 
was leveled at their liberties, he again came forward to 
serve the public ; was appointed a delegate to congress ; 
and, in that body, was chairman of every committee selected 
to make arrangements for defence. He was now in his forty- 
fourth year, possessed a large share of common sense, and 
was directed by a sound judgment. Enga-ged in the busy- 
scenes of life, he knew human nature, and the most proper 
method of accomplishing his plans. His passions were 
subdued, and held in subjection to reason. His mind was 
superior to prejudice and party spirit ; his soul, too gener- 
ous, to burthen his country with expense ; his principles, 
too just, to allow his placing military glory in competition 
with the public good. 

On the president of congress announcing his commission, 
he replied ; <* Though I am truly sensible of the high hon- 



108 HISTORY OF 

our done me in this appointment, yet, I feel great distress,, 
from a consciousness, tliat my abilities and military experi- 
ence may not be equal to the extensive and important trust. 
However, as the congress desire it, I will enter on the mo- 
mentous duty, and exert every power I possess, in their ser- 
vice, for the support of the glorious cause. 1 beg they will 
accept my most cordial thanks for this distinguished testi- 
mony of their approbation. But, lest some unlucky event 
should happen, unfavourable to my reputation, I beg it 
may be remembered, by every gentleman in the room, that 
I this day declare, with the utmost sincerity, I do not think 
myself equal to the command I am honoured with. As to 
pay, sir, I beg leave to assure the congress, that, as no pe- 
cuniary consideration could have tempted me to accept 
this arduous employment, at the expense of my domestic 
ease and happiness, I do not wish to make any profit from 
it. I will keep an exact account of my disbursements : 
those, I doubt not, they will discharge, and that is all I de- 
sire." 

In subordination to the commander-in-chief, four major- 
generals, one adjutant-general, and eight brigadier-gene- 
rals, were selected. The first were, Messrs. Ward, Charles 
Lee, Schuyler, and Putnam : the commission of adjutant- 
general was given to Horatio Gates ; and the duties of the 
last were confided to Messrs. Pomeroy, Montgomery, and 
Wooster; Heath, Spencer, Thomas, Sullivan, and Greene. 
Lee and Gates were natives of England, and had gained 
considerable reputation in the British army. 

Even the women were desirous of signalizing their zeal 
in defence of their country. In Bucks' county, Pennsylva- 
nia, they raised and equipped a regiment at their own ex- 
pense, and armed those who were unable to bear the charge. 
The lady who presented the colours, embroidered with ap- 
propriate mottos by their own hands, made an eloquent 
harangue, exhorting the soldiers never to desert the ban- 
ners of the American fair. 

^ , „ When general Washington joined the army at 
^ '^' Cambridge, he found the British intrenched on 
Bunker's Hill ; having three floating batteries on Mystic 
river, and a twenty-gun ship below the ferry, between Boston 
and Charlestown. They had also a battery on Copse's Hill, 
and strong fortifications on the Neck. The Americans were 
intrenched at Winter Hill, Prospect Hill, and Roxbury ; 
with posts of communication extending over a distance of 
ten miles, and small parties stationed in several towns along 

^ 1 



I 



THE UNITED STATICS. 169 

the sea-coast. Every thing essential to an army, except 
courage, was wanting in the patriot army. They had nei- 
ther engineers to plan suitable works, nor sufficient tools to 
erect them. Instead of tents, the soldiers were only partially 
covered with sails; now useless to the mariner, from the ob- 
structions of commerce. They had no commissaries ; in- 
dividuals brought to camp their own provisions, on their 
own horses : — nor, uniformity of dress : the hunting shi t 
was introduced, to abolish provincial distinctions. On tuG 
4th of August, the whole stock of po-.vder in the American 
camp, and in all the public magazines of New England, 
would have made little more than nine rounds. A supply 
of several thousand pounds weight v/as soon afterwards ob- 
tained from Africa. Domestic rum was sent thither, in 
charge of confidential agents; who proceeded with so much 
address, that every ounce for sale in the British forts on the 
African coast, was purchased and brought off for the use of 
their opponents in America. Some fearless patriots of 
South Carolina in the following year boarded an English 
vessel at St. Augustine; from which, they obtained fifteen» 
thousand pounds : and a large quantity was manufactured 
at Philadelphia; where a single mill produced five-hundred 
pounds each week. 

The continental army placed under the command of 
Washington, amounted to fourteen-thousand-five-hundred 
men. These had been so judiciously stationed around Bos* 
ton, as to confine the British in the town, and exclude them 
from the provisions afforded in the adjacent country and the 
islands in the bay. They were now arranged in three grand 
divisions. General Ward commanded the right wing, at 
Roxbury ; general Lee, the left, at Prospect Hill ; and the 
centre, the head quarters of which were at Cambridge, was 
under the immediate command of Washington himself. The 
military skill of adjutant-general Gates, in his particular 
department, was eminently conspicuous. He introduced 
punctuality and method, taught the officers and privates to 
know their respective places, and to have the mechanism as 
well as movements of an army. 

Having thus accomplished a respectable beginning upon 
land, the continental energies were directed also to another 
element, the sea. In November, the Massachusetts assem- 
bly and the general congress resolved to fit out armed ves- 
sels, to cruise on the American coast ; for the purpose of 
intercepting warlike stores and supplies destined for the 
British army. The object was at first limited to these; but, 
10 



no HISTORY OF 

as the prospect of accommodation receded, it was extended 
to all British property afloat. The Americans were diffi- 
dent of their ability to effect any thing on water, against the 
naval power of England, the greatest in the world. But 
even their earliest attempts were successful, and inspired 
them with confidence to venture on a larger scale. The 
Lee privateer, under the direction of captain Manly, took 
an ordnance vessel from Woolwich, containing a large brass 
mortar, several pieces of brass cannon, a large quantity of 
small arms and ammunition, warlike tools, utensils, and 
machines ; a cargo so appropriate, that, had congress sent 
an order for supplies, they could not have made a list of ar- 
ticles more suitable to their present wants. Scarcely had 
the first joyful impressions caused by this relief subsided, 
when Manly gave additional proofs of successful vigilance. 
Within a few days, he captured three other vessels, laden 
with various stores from England, and one ship from Anti- 
gua, with rum. Invigorated by this promise of important 
aid from a new field of enterprise, congress determined to 
create a national marine ; and gave orders for building five 
vessels of thirty-two, five of twenty-eight, and three of twen- 
ty-four guns, each. 

About this time, one of the sea-port towns of Massachu- 
setts suffered a melancholy devastation. Falmouth, con- 
taining upwards of four-hundred dwelling-houses and stores, 
was totally destroyed, by shells and red-hot shot ; thrown 
into it without intermission, during a whole day, from a 
ship of eighteen guns, commanded by captain Moet. 

The seizure of Ticonderoga and other places on the lakes 
adjoining Canada, in which enterprise, colonel Arnold bore 
a distinguished part, has been already mentioned. Encour- 
aged by the success of his first essay in the field, this am- 
bitious officer lost no time in projecting more extensive 
operations. He wrote a letter to congress, strongly urging 
an expedition into Canada, and offering, with two-thousand 
men, to reduce the whole province. In his zeal to oppose 
Gitat Britain, or satiate his desire of glory, he had advised 
the adoption of offensive war, even before congress had or- 
ganized an army or appointed a single officer. His impor- 
tunity, however, together with a belief that the Canadians 
were, in general, discontented with their government, in- 
duced that body to adopt his daring project. But, though 
they acquiesced in his opinion, they did not invest him with 
the command. The arrangements in the northern depart- 
ment were committed to generals Schuyler and Montgome- 



THE UNITED STATES. U^ 

ry : the former was stationed at Albany, to conclude a treaty 
with the Indians; the latter was sent forward to Ticondero- 
ga, with a body of troops from New York and New Eng- 
land. 

The nearest British post in Canada was St. John's; situ- 
ated about a hundred miles to the north of Ticonderoga : 
which, since the fall of the latter and Crownpoint, was just- 
ly considered as the key of that province. Against this, 
Montgomery erected a battery ; but, on account of the 
scarcity of ammunition, was not likely to succeed in its re- 
duction, until, by the capture of fort Chamblee, a post a few 
miles below St. John's, on the same river, he obtained a 
large supply of powder. In the meantime, a British force, 
in number about eight-hundred, chiefly Indians and militia, 
when attempting to relieve St. John's, by crossing the river 
St. Lawrence opposite to Louqueil, were compelled to re- 
tire with considerable loss, by three-hundred Green Moun- 
tain men, under the command of colonel Warner. This 
affair decided the fate of the besieged. Five-hundred re- 
gulars and one-hundred Canadians surrendered to Mont- 
gomery; with forty-eight pieces of artillery, and eight-hun- 
dred stand of arms. The advantage gained by the invad- 
ers was, however, in a small degree lessened, by the cap- 
ture of the brave colonel Allen and a party of eighty men, 
when on a tour of observation, near Montreal. But the 
enemy were allowed only a short period to enjoy the satis- 
faction of this trifling acquirement. Pursuing his good 
fortune, general Montgomery immediately appeared before 
Montreal, and, on the 13th of November, obtained a sur- 
render of the place, together with general Prescott and the 
garrison : besides eleven sail of vessels, laden with ammu- 
nition, provisions, intrenching tools, and every thing re- 
quired for the clothing and comfort of his army. General 
Carleton, the commander in chief and governor of Canada, 
very narrowly escaped being taken. Being blockaded in 
that part of the St. Lawrence which lies between the city 
and the mouth of the river Sorel, he threw himself into a 
boat, and, aided by muffled oars and the obscurity of the 
night, had the good fortune to pass the American guards. 

After leaving some troops in Montreal, Montgomery, 
with little more than three-hundred men, proceeded for the 
capital, Quebec. But his situation was now very embar- 
rassing. " Much to be pitied," observes a cotemporary 
writer, " js the officer, who, having been bred to arms in 
the strict discipline of regular armies, is afterwards called 



U.2 HISTORY OF 

to command men who carry with them the spirit of free- 
dom into the field. The greater part of the Americans, 
officers as well as privates, having never before seen any 
service, were ignorant of their duty, and feebly impressed 
with the military ideas of union, subordination, and disci- 
pline. They were soon tired of a military life. Novelty, 
and the first impulse of passion, had led them to the camp; 
but the approaching cold season, together with the fatigues 
and dangers incident to war, induced a general wish to re- 
linquish the service. Though, by the terms of inlistment, 
they were to be discharged in a few weeks, they could not, 
even for that short space of time, bear an absence from 
their homes." 

About the same tim.e that Canada was invaded by the 
usual route from New York, a considerable detachment of 
the American army was brought thither by a new and unex- 
pected passage. Arnold, who conducted this bold under- 
taking, acquired, thereby, the name of the American Han' 
iiibal. He was sent, by general Washington, with a thou- 
sand men, from Cambridge ; wdth orders to penetrate into 
that province by ascending the river Kennebeck, and then, 
after crossing the mountains which divide Canada from 
Maine, by descending the Chaudiere, to the St. Lawrence. 
Great were the difficulties, and severe the deprivations, 
they had to encounter, in marching, three-hundred miles, 
by an unexplored way, through an uninhabited country. 
In ascending the Kennebeck, they were constantly obliged 
to struggle against an impetuous current; were often com- 
pelled, by cataracts, to land, and haul their batteaux up 
rapid streams, and over falls of rivers. They had to con- 
tend with swamps, woods, and craggy mountains. At 
some places, they had to cut their way, for miles together, 
through forests, so embai-rassed, that their progress was 
only four or five miles a day. One third of their number 
"vverc, from sickness and want of food, obliged to return. 
Provisions grew at length so scarce, that some of the men 
eat their dogs, cartouch-boxes, leather small-clothes, and 
shoes. Still, they proceeded with unabated fortitude. 
They gloried in the hope of completing a march which 
v/ould rival the greatest exploits of antiquity ; and, on the 
third of November, after thirty-one days spent in traversing 
a hideous desert, they reached the inhabited parts of Cana- 
da, where, the people, struck with amazement and admira- 
tion when they saw this armed force emerging from the 



THE UNITED STATES. 113 

wilderness, received them with kind attention, and supplied 
them with every thing requisite for their conifoit. 

A m-dnifesto, subscribed by general Washington, which 
had been sent with this detachment, was circulated amongst 
the Canadians. They were informed, that the American 
army came, not as enemies, but friends , not to plunder, 
but to protect them : and were invited to arrange them- 
selves uiider the common standard of security and freedom. 

So favourable, were the prospects Oithe united colonies at 
this period, liiat general MonLg'j mery began to form a reg- 
iment of Canadians. James Livingscon, a native of New 
York, who had long resided in Canada, was appointed to 
command them. The inhabitants, on both sides of the river, 
were very friendly. Expresses, in the employment of the 
Americans, continued to pass without molestation between 
Montreal and Quebec ; before which place, Arnold had 
now arrived. Many individuals performed important ser- 
vices in favour of the invaders. Amongst those, Mr. Price 
stands conspicuous ; having advanced them, in gold and 
silver money, five-thousand pounds. 

On the 13th of November, the fifth night after his ap- 
pearance before Quebec, Arnold crossed the St. Lawrence; 
in hopes of entering the fortress by assault. But his chance 
of succeeding, by this mode, was, in that short space of 
time, greatly diminished. The critical moment, by un- 
avoidable delay, was then lost ; the panic, occasioned by 
his first appearance, had abated; and solid preparations 
were adopted for its defence; wherefore, having no artille- 
ry, after surmounting the craggy precipice which had been 
ascended by general Wolfe, and drawing up his little band 
near the plains of Abraham, he withdrew ; and, until the 
arrival of Montgomery, aimed at nothing more than to cut 
off supplies from the garrison. 

This officer at length joined the blockading army, sum- 
moned the garrison to surrender, without effect, soon after- 
wards commenced a bombardment, and opened a six-gun 
battery ; but his metal was too light. Defended by the 
united fortifications of art and nature, Quebec, the last Can- 
adian post remaining to the British, stood uninjured. Ani- 
mated by the presence, and directed by the counsel of the 
governor, sir Guy Carleton, the garrison could not be weari- 
ed to submission. The fate of the besiegers was becom- 
ing dangerous. Tov/ards the end of the year, the tide of 
fortune began to turn. Dissensions threatened the annihil- 
ation of discipline ; resourses were every day declining;; fa- 
10* 



iU HISTORY OF 

tigue weakened the bodies, and depressed the sph'its of the 
men. Difficulties of every kind were rapidly increasing*. 
The alternatives must be decided, of immediate retreat, or 
an attempt to enter the place by storm. Montgomery de- 
termined on the latter; though it was an undertaking in 
which success was barely possible, and despair seemed 
triumphant over hope. 

The garrison numbered fifteen-hundred, the assailants 
only eight-hundred men. Having divided this little force 
into four detachments, he ordered two feints to be made 
against the upper town; one, by colonel Livingston, at the 
head of the Canadians, against St. John's gate ; the other, 
by major Brown, against Cape Diamond : reserving to 
himself and colonel Arnold the two principal attacks against 
the lower town. On the last day of the year, at four o'clock 
in the morning, in the midst of a heavy storm of snow, the 
columns were put in motion. Montgomery passed the 
first barrier ; but, when attacking the second, was killed, 
and his division was led back. Arnold, being severely 
wounded, was carried off the field : yet his party, placed 
under the conduct of captain (afterwards general) Morgan, 
contended amidst the works for three hours, until overpow- 
ered by superior numbers. One-hundred Americans were 
killed, and three-hundred made prisoners. 

Few men have fallen in battle so much regretted, by 
both sides, as general Montgomery. He had engaged in the 
American cause from principle, and left the enjoyment of 
an easy fortune, in Ireland, and the highest domestic hap- 
piness, to take an active share in the dangers and fatigues 
of a war, instituted to defend a community of which he was 
sin adopted member. 

Although the besiegers were so much weakened as to be 
scarcely equal to their own defence, Arnold, who succeeded 
Montgomery in the command, had the boldness to encamp 
within three miles of the toAvn, and the address, even with 
his reduced numbers, to impede the conveyance of provis- 
ions into the garrison. His situation was extremely diffi^ 
cult. His men were exposed, in the open air, when the 
snow lay four feet deep, and the rigours of a Canada winter 
assailed them with a severity beyond any degree which they 
had before experienced. 

But the failure of this enterprise did not extinguish 
the ardour of their countrymen. They yet retamed 
hopes of reducing in that quarter the English power. Gen- 
eral Washington arranged measures to embody for the ser- 



THE UNITED STATES. 115 

vice of the north three regiments in New Hampshire ; and 
congress resolved to forward the reinforcements previously 
voted, as well as to raise four battalions in New York, 
That the army might be supplied with blankets for this win- 
ter expedition, a committee was appointed to procure, from 
house-holders, all that could be spared from their families. 
To obtain a supply of hard money, proper persons were 
employed to exchange paper notes for coin ; and such was 
the enthusiasm of the times, that many thousand silver 
dollars were frequently given at par for the bills of congress. 
No means of insuring success were overlooked. The cause 
of the Americans had received so powerful aid from the 
publications in their own gazettes, and from the fervent ex- 
hortations of popular preachers, which connected the cause 
of liberty with the animating sentiments of religion, that it 
was determined to employ those two powerful engines of re- 
volution, printing and preaching, to operate on the minds 
of the Canadians. Accordingly, a complete apparatus, to- 
gether with a printer and a clergyman, was sent into that 
province ; also. Dr. Franklin, with Mr. Chase and Mr. 
Carroll of Maryland ; the last of whom was a respectable 
clergyman of the Roman Catholic persuasion, (the prevail- 
ing doctrine of that country,) to invigorate the seeds of 
revolution ; by promising that Canada should be received 
into the colonial association on equal terms, that the inhab- 
itants should enjoy the free exercise of their religion, and 
the quiet possession of their ecclesiastical estates. 

Yet, notwithstanding all these exertions to support the 
war in Canada, their interest there, after the fall of Mont- 
gomery, gradually declined. Their unsuccessful assault on 
Quebec, made an impression, both on the Canadians and 
Indians, unfavourable to their views ; and the reduction of 
that place now seemed an object to which their resources 
were inadequate. The inhabitants listened with jealous 
diffidence to the declarations in favour of protecting their 
religion. They reverted, with philosophic caution, to the 
early breaches of civil faith amongst their neighbours, in 
New England, and the stubborn animosity which theologi- 
cal collision, had every where produced. To render still 
v/eaker the chances of success, the small-pox found its way 
throughout the invading army ; and, owing to the limited 
])ractice of early inoculation at that period, was a serious 
calamity. It reduced their effective number from three- 
thousand, to nine-hundred men. Whilst the forces of the 
one party were thus decreasing, and their spirit sinking by 



116 HISTORY OF 

disease, those of the other were recruiting, their energies^ 
and hopes reviving. Determined to recover, without de- 
lay, the ground which they had lost, the British government 
suffered not a mom.ent to elapse, after intelligence of these 
events arrived, before they despatched a numerous rein- 
forcement for its relief; and, early in May, the van of this 
body made its way up the river St. Lawrence, through the 
ice. The besiegers immediately made preparations to re- 
treat. Carleton led out a detachment to attack them, and 
got possession of all their cannon and military stores: which, 
in their confusion, they had abandoned. Thus, at the end 
of five months' operations, the siege was raised ; after a 
display of fortitude and perseverance, Avhich reflects the 
highest honour on the officers and privates of both armies. 

From an enemy, the conduct of general Carleton merits 
distinguished praise. To the abilities of the accomplished 
soldier, by which he fulfilled an arduous duty to his country, 
he superadded the amiable qualities of a generous foe. The 
numerous sick in the American hospitals, unavoidably de- 
serted by their companions, he cherished with most tender 
care : he fed and clothed them, and, when recovered, per- 
mitted them to return ; and, by a humane proclamation, re- 
moved the fears of those who might possibly be scattered 
in the woods ; recommending them to go home, and apply 
themselves again to the peaceful labour of their farms. 

When the retreating army had reached the Sorel, and 
thrown up some slight works for their defence, they were 
joined by a few battalions who were marching to reinforce 
them. General Thomas, the American commander in 
chief in Canada, having died, his commission devolved on 
Arnold, now advanced to the same rank : and afterwards 
on general Sullivan. But, notv/ithstanding their increase 
of numbers, it soon became evident that they must abandon 
the entire province ; yet, from a desire of doing something 
Vvhich would counterbalance, in the minds of the Canadians, 
the injurious effects of their retreat, an attack, planned by 
general Thompson, was made on the British post at the 
Three Rivers. The assailants, however, were repulsed ; 
Thompson and two-hundred men were made prisoners, 
and about twenty-five were killed. Soon afterwards, Carle- 
ton, at the head of the main body of the enemy, arrived, and 
commenced a serious pursuit. The retreat, nevertheless, 
was conducted by general Sullivan, with so much hidustry 
and judgment, that the baggage, cannon, and military stores, 
were brought off, and the numerous sick escorted to Grown 



THE UNITED STATES. 11^ 

Point ; where he arrived on the 1st of July, and made his" 
first stand. 

At this period of the contest in the north, it becomes ne- 
cessary to view the transactions, which, in the meantime, 
had occurred at home. The first province that demands 
attention, is Virginia. The inhabitants in that quarter, 
though there was not a British soldier within its limits, 
were involved, by the indiscretion of its governor, lord Dun- 
more, in difficulties, little short of those which had assail- 
ed the people of Massachusetts. This officer, aided by a 
party from a royal vessel in James' River, having conveyed 
the powder from the colonial magazine at Williamsburg, by 
which conduct he brought upon himself the indignant fury 
of the people, threatened, in case of farther opposition, to 
enfranchise the negroes, and arm them against their for- 
mer masters. This irritated, but did not intimidate. A 
body of gentlemen, headed by Patrick Henry, compel- 
led him to pay the value of the powder; and so alarmed 
him, that he was induced to send his lady and family on 
board a man-of-war, and surround his palace with artillery. 
Affairs, thenceforward, grew daily more tempestuous. He 
retired from his dangerous habitation ; with the aid of the 
royalists, runaway negroes, and some frigates, established 
a marine force, ravaged plantations, and at length attempt- 
ed to destroy Hampton by a cannonade ; but was driven off 
by the riflemen stationed on the shore. In a few days from, 
this, he entered Norfolk ; but, after a skirmish at the great 
bridge, in which a party of British grenadiers were defeat- 
ed by the provincials, he abandoned the town, and again 
retired with his motley forces on board his ships. Nor- 
folk, however, survived only a short time this triumph over 
the royal governor. Provisions being withheld from the 
king's vessels in the harbour, the town, with all the pro- 
perty which it contained, amounting in the whole to more 
than a million of dollars, was, on the 1st of January, reduc- 
ed to ashes. 

Nor Avas the adjoining colony of North Carolina exempt- 
ed from disturbance ; though of less serious amount. The 
governor's party, there, was soon defeated, and he himself 
compelled to follow the example of Dunmore, by retiring 
on board a ship. Similar retreats were m.ade by the royal 
governors of the other colonies ; and, before the year expir- 
ed, the regal authority had entirely ceased throughout the 
union. 



118 HISTORY OF 

All this time, the British troops at Boston were sufFerin^ 
the inconvenience of a blockade ; and the blockading forces 
were equally uneasy for want of employment. Accustomed 
to industry and motion on their farms, the latter could not 
patiently bear the inactivity and confinement of a camp. 
Fiery spirits declaimed in favour of an assault : they prefer- 
red a thoughtless enterprise, which might bring immediate 
glory, to passive fortitude and distant victory. To be in 
readiness for the attempt, a council of war recommended 
the assembling of seven-thousand militia ; which, added to 
the regular army before Boston, would have made a force 
of about seventeen-thousand men. But the Americans still 
laboured under a scarcity of arms and ammunition. Though 
great exertions had been made to manufacture gunpowder, 
and to collect arms throughout the interior, the supply was 
slow and inadequate. The eyes of all were now fixed on 
general Washington; who, it was, notwithstanding, expect- 
ed, would, by a bold exertion, free Boston from the English 
troops. The dangerous situation of public affairs had led 
him to conceal his real deficiency of means; and, with that 
magnanimity which distinguishes th2 virtuous patriot, but 
is often absent even from the brave, to suffer his character 
to be assailed, sooner than vindicate himself by exposing his 
army's weakness. There were not wanting persons, who, 
judging from the superior number of his men, asserted, 
that if he were not desirous, like the Marlborough of 
England, to prolong his importance at the head of an army, 
he might, by a vigorous attack, drive the enemy from Bos- 
ton. Such insinuations were reported, and, by several, be- 
lieved. But they were uncontradicted by Washington ; 
who chose to risk his fame, rather than expose the lives of 
his soldiers and the liberties of his country. 

The patient vigilance of the correct general at length 
gained a bloodless victory. Alarmed by the appearance of 
the besiegers on Dorchester heights, which, on the night of 
the 4th of March, had been fortified, under cover of a bom- 
bardment and cannonade, Sir William Howe, leaving behind 
a large quantity of artillery and other munitions of war, 
evacuated Boston on the 17th, and sailed with his troops to 
Halifax. His retreat was not impeded by the blockading 
army ; lest an attack, at that period, might have caused him 
to burn the town. The embarkation of the British troops 
was scarcely finished, when general W^ashington with his 
army entered; amidst marks of approbation and rejoicing 
more flattering than a Roman triumph. 



THE UNITED STATES. U9 

I'or some months past, every exertion had been made to 
place South Carolina, and especially its capital, Charleston, 
in a respectable posture of defence. Works were accord- 
ingly erected upon Sullivan's island; which is situated so 
near the channel, as to be a convenient post for annoying 
vessels when attempting to approach the town. These 
proved a judicious precaution. The place had soon to with- 
stand a formidable attack. On the 28th of June, a British 
admiral, sir Peter Parker, entered the harbour, with six 
frigates and four smaller ships of war; mounting in the 
whole, two-hundred-and-seventy guns, and having on board 
three-thousand land-troops, under the command of sir Hen- 
ry Clinton. To oppose these, the fort had thirty-six guns, 
consisting of eighteen, twenty -four, and forty-two, pounders, 
manned by about four-hundred militia and soldiers of the 
line, commanded by colonel Moultrie. This small garri- 
son made a most gallant and effectual defence. They fired 
with deliberation; for the most part took aim ; and seldom 
missed their object. The ships were torn almost to pieces ; 
the killed and wounded on board exceeded two-hundred 
men. The loss of the garrison was only ten men killed and 
twenty-two wounded. The fort being built of palmetto, 
was little damaged : the shot which struck it was buried in 
its soft wood. Colonel Thompson, with seven-hundred 
men, was stationed at the east end of the island, to oppose 
the crossing of a British division, which had landed on Long 
Island, in their rear; but, to effect that, no serious attempt 
was made. The firing ceased in the evening; the vessels 
slipped their cables ; before morning, they had retired about 
two miles ; and, in a few days, the troops re-embarked, and 
the whole sailed for New York. 

Two grand objects of the British armaments were decid- 
ed ; one, to relieve Canada, which had been successful ; the 
other, to make a strong impression in the south, which end- 
ed in defeat. A third remained to be determined, — the 
possession of New York. The command of the force de- 
signed to operate against the latter, was given to admiral 
lord Howe, and his brother, general sir William Howe; offi- 
cers, who, as v/ell from their individual characters, as the 
known bravery of their family, stood high in ministerial con- 
fidence, and were commissioned either to subdue by the 
power of arms, or end the war by negotiation. The army 
amounted to thirty-thousand men ; a force which exceeded 
any before seen in America^ and was, besides, supported by 
a numerous fleet. 



120 HISTORY OF 

On their approach, the enemy found every part of New 
York Island, and the most exposed parts of Long Island, 
fortified, and well defended by artillery. About fifty British 
transports anchored near Staten Island ; which had not been 
«o much an object of protection. The inhabitants of this 
place, either through fear or policy, or affection, expressed 
great joy on their arrival ; and several assembling round 
their standard, joined by about sixty persons from New Jer- 
sey, were embodied as a royal militia. 

But, whatever might be the hopes of Britain to obtain a 
more absolute dominion over her colonies, by arms, the 
time had now passed when even the ancient connexion could 
be rcitained, by negotiation. Offers of pardon were not 
less insulting than inappropriate. A new era had arisen in 
the west. The link, which had, for ages, bound England 
to her rising progeny, was, by the corroding influence of 
evil ministers, severed from its ancient hold. The chain 
which had stretched its political rcr/fi, to their common cen- 
tre in Great Britain, now assumed a fresh arrangement, by 
attaching together the children in resistance to the parent. 
On the 4th of July, a few days after the arrival of this great 
armament, the congress at Philadelphia agreed on a declar- 
ation of Independence ;' thereby, absolving the colonies 
from every allegiance to the crown of England. The mo- 
tion for this purpose, first made on the 7th of June, by 
Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, and seconded by John 
Adams, of Massachusetts, in conformity with the particu- 
lar instructions of the former's constituents and the general 
voice of all the states, was decided by an almost unanimous 
vote. 

*■' WHEN, in the course of human events," says this 
celebrated document, — " it becomes necessary for one peo- 
ple to dissolve the political bands which have connected 
them with another, and to assume, among the powers of 
the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws 
of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent re- 
spect for the opinions of mankind requires that they should 
declare the causes which impel them to the separation. 

" We hold these truths to be self-evident : — that all men 
are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator 
with certain unalienable rights ; that, among these, are life, 
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these 
rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving 
their just powers from the consent of the governed ; that^ 



THE UNITED STATES. 121 

whenever any form of government becomes destructive of 
these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abol- 
ish it, and to institute a new government, laying its founda- 
tion on such principles, and organizing its powers in such 
form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safe- 
ty and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate, that gov- 
ernments long established should not be changed for light 
and transient causes ; and accordingly all experience hath 
shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while 
evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing 
the forms to which they are accustomed. But, when a long 
train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the 
same object, evinces a design to reduce them under abso- 
lute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off 
such government, and to provide new guards for their future 
security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these 
colonies ; and such is now the necessity which constrains 
them to alter their former systems of government. The 
history of the present king of Great Britain, is a history of 
repeated injuries and usurpations ; all having in direct ob- 
ject the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these 
states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid 
world. 

" He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome 
and necessary for the public good. 

" He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of imme- 
diate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their 
operation, till his assent should be obtained ; and, when so 
suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. He 
has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of 
large districts of people, unless those people would relin- 
quish the right of representation in the legislature — a right 
.inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only. 

" He has called together legislative bodies at places un- 
usual, uncomfortable, and distant from the repository of 
their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them 
into compliance with his measures. 

" He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for 
opposing, with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights 
of the people. 

" He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, 
to cause others to be elected ; whereby, the legislative pow- 
ers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people 
at large, for their exercise ; the state remaining, in the 

n 



122 HISTORY OF 

meantime, exposed to all the dangers of invasion from with- 
out, and convulsions within. 

" He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these 
states ; for that purpose, obstructing the laws for naturaliza- 
tion of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their 
migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appro- 
priations of lands. 

" He has obstructed the administration of justice, by re- 
fusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. 

" He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the 
tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their 
salaries. 

" He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent 
hither swarms of officers, to harass our people, and eat out 
their substance. 

" He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing ar- 
mies, without the consent of our legislatures. 

" He has affected to render the military independent of, 
and superior to, the civil power. 

*« He has combined with others to subject us to a juris- 
diction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by 
our laws ; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legis- 
lation, for quartering large bodies of armed troops among 
us : for protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment 
for any murders vv^hich they should commit on the inhabit- 
ants of these states : for cutting off our trade with all parts 
of the world : for imposing taxes on us without our consent : 
for depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by 
jury : for transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pre- 
tended offences : for abolishing the free system of English 
laws in a neighbouring province, establishing therein an 
arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as 
to render it at once an example and fit instrument for in- 
troducing the same absolute rule into these colonies : for 
taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, 
and altering, fundamentally, the forms of our governments : 
for suspending our own legislatures, and declaring them- 
selves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases 
whatsoever. 

<' He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out 
of his protection, and waging war against us. 

'' He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt 
our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. 

" He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign 
mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and 



THE UNITED STATES. 123 

tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and 
perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and 
totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation. 

<* He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive 
on the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to be- 
come the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to 
fall themselves by their hands. 

"He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and 
has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers 
the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare 
is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and 
conditions. 

" In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned 
for redress, in the most humble terms : our repeated peti- 
tions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, 
whose character is thus marked by every act which may 
define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. 

" Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British 
brethren. We have warned them, from time to time, of 
attempts made by their legislature to extend an unwarrant- 
able jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the 
circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We 
have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and 
we have conjured them, by the ties of our common kindred, 
to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably inter- 
rupt our connexions and correspondence. They, too, have 
been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We 
must therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which denounces 
our separation; and hold them, as we hold the rest of man- 
kind — enemies in war, in peace friends. 

" We, therefore, the representatives of the United States 
of America, in general congress assembled, appealing to 
the Supreme Judge of the world, for the rectitude of our 
intentions, do, in the name and by the authority of the good 
people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that 
these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and 
independent states; that they are absolved from all allegi- 
ance to the British crown, and that all political connexion 
between them and the state of Great Britain, is, and ought 
to be, totally dissolved ; and that, as free and independent 
states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, 
contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other 
acts and things which independent states may of right do. 
And, for the support of this declaration, with a firm reli- 



124 HISTORY OF 

ance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually 
pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred 
honour."* 



CHAPTER VII. 

Continuation of the ivar. Success of the Americans, Peace 
of Paris. 

IT had early occurred to general Washington, that the 
possession of New York would be with the British a favour- 
ite object. Its central situation, and contiguity to the ocean, 
might enable them to carry the war to any part of the sea- 
coast. Its acquisition was rendered still more valuable, by 
the ease with which it could be maintained. Surrounded 
on all sides by water, it was defensible by a small numbeD 

•Tills declaration was composed by Thomas Jefferson ; one of a 
committee appointed for the purpose. It was signed in the State- 
liouse, at Philadelphia, in a chamber of the right wing, on the ground 
floor ; the first which you enter from the centre hall of that building. 

A painting, commemorative of the great event, in which are drawa 
the persons of its illustrious authors, (whose names are here record- 
ed,) in their position at the time of its being- presented by the com- 
mittee for the approval of congress, has been drawn by an American 
artist, colonel Trumbull ; and placed, in 1819, in the capitol at Wash- 
ington. 

John Hancock, President. Charles Thomson, Secretary. 

JVe~M Hampshire; Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew- 
Thornton. Massachusetts,' Samuel Adams, John Adams, Hobert 
Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry. Rhode Island &c Stephen Hopkins, 
William Ellery. Connecticut ; Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntingdon, 
William Williams, Oliver Wolcott. JVexo York ; William Floyd, 
Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris. JK^ew Jersey ; Rich- 
ard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abra- 
ham Clark. Pennsylvania; Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benja- 
min Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George 
Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross. Delaware; Coesar Rodney, 
George Reed. Maryland; Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas 
Stone, Charles Carroll, of Carrollton. Virginia ; George Wythe, Rich- 
ard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nel- 
son, junior, Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton. Aor/A Carolina; 
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn. South Carolina ; Edward 
Rutledge, Thomas Hay ward, junior, Thomas Lynch, junior ; Arthur 
Middleton. Georgia; Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton. 

Of these, the only survivors, at the time of publishing the third 
edition of this history, in 18'32, were John Adams, Charles Carroll, 
Thomas Jefferson, and Charles Thomson. 



THE UNITED STATES. 125 

of British ships, against adversaries whose whole navy con- 
sisted only of a few frigates; and Hudson's river, being na- 
vigable for vessels of the largest size, to a great distance, 
afforded an opportunity of severing the eastern from the 
other states, and of almost preventing between them any 
communication. 

In proportion to the desire which general Washington 
judged that the British felt for the possession of New York, 
did this sagacious officer direct his attention to its defence. 
He had, in April, fixed his head quarters in that city, and 
given it all the strength that wisdom could invent or indus- 
try accomplish. He made anew distribution of the army: 
leaving a part in Massachusetts, ordering a small division 
to Canada, but drawing the greatest portion into New York. 
Thus, although he now laboured to secure this important 
place, he was not forgetful of the other districts of his coun- 
try. His comprehensive mind embraced, in one view, the 
condition of the whole ; and his experience taught him the 
most effectual method of preserving them. He determined 
on a " war of posts;" the best suited to the condition of hifj 
infant troops, and the least adapted to the interest of his 
enemy: as, while it increased the confidence of the one, 
it retarded the operations of the other, by continual alarm. 

The enemy resolved to make their first attempt on Long 
Island ; a position more advantageous than that on which 
the city stood, as it abounded with fresh provisions. On 
the 22d of August, they landed without opposition between 
two villages, Utrecht and Gravesend. The American 
works protected a small peninsula ; having Waliabout Bay 
on the left, Red Hook, to which they extended, on the right, 
and East River, in the rear. General Sullivan, to whom 
was intrusted the defence of the island, was encamped with 
a strong force within these works, at Brooklyn. The passes 
leading through the hills were all guarded, and a battalion 
of riflemen observed the motions of the British. 

General Heister, with his Hessian auxiliaries in English 
pay, took post at Flatbush; and, on the foUov/ing morning, 
the 27th, general Clinton gained possession of a height 
commanding one of the defiles. The guard fled, without - 
making any resistance. Early on the 28th, an attack was 
made by the Hessians, and by another body under general 
Grant ; which was well supported for a considerable time, 
on both sides. The Americans who opposed general Heis- 
ter were the first informed of the approach of Clinton, who 
had come round upon their left. They immediately began » 



12§ HISTORY OF 

retreat to their camp ; but were intercepted by the latter ; 
who, having got into their rear, attacked them with his 
light infantry and dragoons. The Americans were driven 
back, until met by the Hessians ; and were thus chased, 
alternately, by two parties. Some of the regiments, how- 
ever, found their way to the camp. The Americans, under 
lord Stirling, consisting of colonel Miles' two battalions, co- 
lonels Atlee's, Smallwood's, and Hatch's regiments, who 
were opposed to general Grant, fought with great resolution 
for about six hours. But, from their total want of cavalry, 
being ignorant of the movements made by general Clinton, 
until some of his troops had traversed the whole extent of 
country in their rear, their retreat was intercepted. Seve- 
ral, notwithstanding, broke through, and got into the woods; 
and a considerable number escaped to the lines. Many, 
however, were drowned, and others perished in the mud. 

The king's troops displayed great valour throughout the 
■whole day. The variety of ground occasioned a succession 
of small engagements, pursuits, and slaughters, which last- 
ed many hours. British discipline, however, in every in- 
stance triumphed over the mere bravery of raw forces ; who 
Tiad never been in any action, and whose officers were unac- 
quainted with the stratagems of war. 

The loss of the enemy, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, 
or, as it is concisely termed by the French, the numbei- 
placed hoi's cle combat^ out of battle, was four-hundred-and- 
iifty. That of the Americans was above a thousand. 
Amongst the prisoners taken of the latter, were two gene- 
rals, Sullivan and Stirling, and eighty-two other officers, in- 
cluding every rank. 

During the retreat, general Washington had brought 
over reinforcements to the scene of action ; and, after he 
had collected his principal force there, it was his wish and 
hope that sir William Howe would attempt to storm his 
works. But the remembrance of Breed's-hill, restrained the 
British general from an assault. On the contrary, he made 
demonstrations of a siege, and opened trenches v/ithin three- 
hundred yards, to the left, at Putnam's redoubt. Though 
general Washington had wished for an immediate assault, 
yet, being certain that his works would be untenable when 
the British batteries were fully opened, he called a council 
©f war, to deterniine on the most proper measures. It be- 
ing resolved, that the objects in view were in no degree 
proportioned to the dangers, to which, by a continuation on 
the island, they would be exposed, dispositions were made 



THE UNITED STATES. ui 

for retreating. This commenced soon after it was dark ; 
from two points, the upper and lower ferries on East river. 
General M'Dougal regulated the embarkation at one; colo- 
nel Knox, at the other. Never was any movement more 
skilfully ordered, conducted with more consummate ad- 
dress, or more highly favoured by the aid of Providence. 
The field-artillery, tents, baggage, and about nine-thousand 
men, were conveyed to New Yo^k, over a river upwards of 
a mile wide, in less than thirteen hours ; and without the 
knowledge of the British, though not distant six-hundred 
yards. The wind seemed, in one place, to change accord- 
ing to their wants ; and, in another, a fog veiled them from 
the hostile view. Half an hour after general Mifflin, with 
the rear guard, had left the lines, they were entered by the 
British. 

Not rightly appreciating the spirit of the American lead- 
ers, which was not subdued, but made more resolute, by 
defeat, lord Howe considered the late reverse as favourable 
to promote submission ; and, accordingly, sent general Sul- 
livan, already mentioned amongst the prisoners, with a mes- 
sage to the congress. In a few days, Dr. Franklin, John 
Adams, and Edward Rutledge, were deputed to have an in- 
terview with the British general, on Staten Island. They 
were politely received ; but there arose no approximation 
towards a peace. When concluding, lord Howe expressed 
to Dr. Franklin, with whom, a mutual friendship had for 
some time before existed, the extreme pain he would suffer, 
in being obliged to distress those that he so much regarded. 
4' I feel thankful to your lordship," replied Franklin, " for 
your regard. The Americans will show their gratitude, 
by endeavouring to lessen the pain you may feel on their ac- 
count, in exerting their utmost abilities to take good care 
of themselves." 

It was happy for the cause of freedom, that a principle, 
yet higher than that which often animates the common sol- 
dier to maintain his post, actuated the superior officers in- 
trusted with its defence. The army became universally 
dispirited. The militia ran off by companies, and the reg- 
ulars were infected by the example. The situation of 
those generous leaders, who knew no fear, except in the 
perspective ruin of their country; who offered every thing, 
but honour, a sacrifice to avert its degradation; cannot be 
described. How must the heart of Washington have been 
wrung with anguish 1 To retreat, subjected him to animad- 
versions, painful to bear, yet impolitic to refute. To stand 



128 HISTORY OF 

his ground, and thus hazard the fate of America, on one 
engagement, in which fortune might decide, was contrary 
,to every rational phm of defending his extensive charge. 
A middle line, between abandoning and defending, was, 
therefore, for a while adopted. The public stores were re- 
moved to Dobbs' ferry, about twenty-six miles distant : 
twelve-thousand men were ordered to the northern extremi- 
ty of New York island ; four-thousand-five-hundred re- 
mained to defend the city, and the rest were stationed with- 
in the intermediate space, to act as occasion might require. 

The same short-sighted politicians who had before cen- 
sured general Washington for his caution, in not storming 
the British lines at Boston, renewed the clamours against 
him for this system of evacuation and retreat. But the 
same wisdom which had then devised it as the best, now 
confirmed his resolution to maintain it. Supported by a 
consciousness of his own integrity, and by a full conviction 
that these measures were the most advantageous to his 
country, he again voluntarily subjected his fame to be over- 
shadowed by a passing cloud. 

General Howe pursued his object with unabating dili- 
gence. Having prepared every thing for a descent on New 
York island, he landed his men near Turtle-bay. The 
Americans instantly fell back; and though some detach- 
ments, under the command of colonel Knowleton of Con- 
necticut and major Leitch of Virginia, the former of whom 
was killed and the latter wounded, had fairly beaten their 
immediate adversaries from the field, yet it became neces- 
sary to evacuate the city. On the 12th of October, it was 
entered by a brigade of the enemy. They had been only a 
few days in possession, when a dreadful fire broke out, 
which consumed a thousand houses. The Americans took 
a position on the north end of the island ; but, soon after- 
wards, left three-thousand men in Fort Washington, near 
Kingsbridge, and retired. The royal army followed, in two 
columns : and, after sustaining a considerable loss, by the 
fire of a party v^hich general Lee had posted behind a wall, 
halted with the Brunx in front: upon which, the Americans 
assembled their main force at White Plains ; where they 
formed intrenchments. A severe action took place, and 
several hundreds fell. The British were commanded by 
general Leslie ; the Americans, by general M'Dougal. 

Soon afterwards, general Washington changed his front ; 
his left wing standing fast, whilst his right fell back to some 
contiguous hills. In this position, an admirable one for de- 



THE UNITED STATES. l2> 

fence, he both desired and expected an attack ; but general 
Howe having' declined it, and drawn off his forces to Dobbs' 
ferry, the Americans retired to Northcastle. 

Leaving seven-thousand men under general Lee, Wash- 
ington crossed the North (or Hudson's) river, into New 
Jersey, and took a position in the neighbourhood of Fort 
Lee. In the meantime, sir William Howe commenced the 
reduction of Fort Washington. On the 16th of November, 
the royal army attacked in four divisions : the first was led 
by general Kniphausen ; the second, by general Matthews, 
supported by lord Cornwallis ; the third was under the di- 
rection of colonel Stirling ; and the fourth, commanded by- 
lord Percy. The garrison consisted of three-thousand men, 
under colonel Magaw. Their outworks being carried, their 
defenders crowded into the fort, and the whole surrendered 
prisoners of war. The loss of the assailants was consider- 
able. Their killed and wounded, from the fire of the gar- 
rison, and of Rawling's corps of riflemen stationed in a wood 
through which one of their divisions passed, were at least 
twelve-hundred. 

Shortly afterwards, lord Cornwallis crossed over to the 
Jersey shore, and captured Fort Lee, with all its artillery 
and stores ; the garrison having been saved by a previous 
evacuation. General Washington then retreated to New- 
ark. But he saw no hopes of being able to reiY^ain everi 
there. He feared that he would be compelled to retire still 
farther. " Should we retreat," said he, addressing colonel 
Reed, " to the back parts of Pennsylvania, will the inhabit- 
ants support us ?" The colonel replied, that if the lower 
counties were subdued, and gave up, the upper districts 
would do the same. " We must retire, then," rejoined 
Washington, " to Augusta county, in Virginia : numbers 
will be obliged to repair to us for safety, and if overpower- 
ed, we must cross the Alleghany mountains." 

But the general's situation became yet more distressing. 
The term for which his army had enlisted was on the point 
of expiring : the British commander offered pardon and re- 
ward to all who would, within sixty days, desert the colonial 
interest : and, when it was expected that he would withdraw 
to winter quarters, pursued the diminished army in its re- 
treat. Lord Cornwallis, at the head of six-thousand regulars, 
was so close behind general Washington, as he retired, dur- 
ing nineteen days, with about three-thousand undisciplined 
troops, to Brunswick, Princeton, Trenton, and the Pennsyl- 
vania side of the Delaware, that the rear of the one army 



130 HISTORY OF 

pulling down bridges, was often within shot of the other's 
van, hastening to repair them. 

Scarcely one of the people joined the retreating army, 
"whilst numbers were daily flocking to the royal standard, to 
obtain forgiveness and protection. Not only the lower 
classes changed sides in this gloomy season of adversity, but 
some of the leading men in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, 
particularly Mr. Gallaway and Mr. Allen, two members of 
congress, adopted the same dastardly expedient, and declar- 
ed themselves, at all times, averse to independence. Every 
thing seemed tending to colonial overthrow. General Lee, 
one of the most distinguished continental officers, was tak- 
en prisoner ; a dispirited half-clad army was on the eve of 
being disbanded ; the neighbourhood of Philadelphia be- 
came the seat of warfare, and congress removed for safety 
to Baltimore. 

In proportion as difficulties increased, that assembly re- 
doubled their exertions. They addressed the states in ani- 
mated language ; recommended them to appoint a day of 
solemn fasting and humiliation, invested Washington with 
extraordinary powers, and endeavoured to obtain assistance 
from foreign nations. 

These judicious measures in the cabinet were accompani- 
ed with proportionate vigour in the field. A bold enterprise 
V.dS fcnr.sd by Washington, of re-crossing into Jersey, and 
attacking those parties of the enemy which were stationed 
at Burlington, Bordenton, and Trenton. In the evening of 
Christmas day, he made arrangements for passing the Dela- 
ware in three divisions ; two under the respective orders 
of generals Cadwallader and Ewing, and one division to 
be directed by himself. But, owing to the quantity of 
broken ice, only the main body, commanded by Washing- 
ton, succeeded in its purpose, at M^Konkey's Ferry, nine 
miles above Trenton ; and the passage even of this was so 
retarded, that it v/as three o'clock in the morning before the 
artillery was landed. On arriving in Jersey, this party was 
arranged in two divisions ; one commanded by general Sulli- 
van, the other by general Greene, aided by Stirling, Mer- 
cer, and St. Clair ; who were ordered to proceed to Tren- 
ton by different roads, and charge the enemy before they had 
time to form. At eight o'clock, they reached the advanc- 
ed posts, within three minutes of each other. The out- 
guards of the Hessian troops soon fell back, but kept up a 
retreating fire ; their main body, after losing half their artil- 
lery, and finding themselves surrounded, laid down their 



THE UNITED STATES. 131 

arms. The detachment in Trenton consisted of fifteen-hun- 
dred German infantry, and a troop of British cavalry : of 
■whom, forty were killed or wounded, and nine-hundred 
taken prisoners; the remainder, about six-hundred, having 
escaped towards Bordenton. Captain Washington, of the 
Virginia troops, a relation of the commander in chief, and 
five or six other Americans, were wounded ; two were kil- 
led, and two or three frozen to death. 

History affords not many examples superior to this mas- 
ter-stroke in the art of war. Nothhig seemed more impro- 
bable than such an attempt, to the commander in chief of 
that district. When colonel Rahl, the officer in Trenton, 
sent to his superior, general Grant, for a cautionary rein- 
forcement, " Tell the colonel," he repied, " he is very safe. 
I will undertake to keep the peace in New Jersey with a 
corporal's guard." 

The British had a strong battalion of light infantry at 
Princeton, and a force yet remaining near the Delaware, su- 
perior to the American army. General Washington, there- 
fore, in the evening after his victory, conceived it the most 
prudent to re-cross into Pennsylvania, with his prisoners. 
These being secured, he returned to Trenton. The enemy, 
as might have been expected, did not allow him to remain 
long undisturbed. Their detachmicnts, which had been can- 
toned over Jersey previous to the capture of the Hessians, 
assembled immediately at Princeton; where they were join- 
ed by the army from Brunswick, under lord Cornwallis. 
,-,-_ From this position, they proceeded, on the 2d of 
January, towards Trenton ; hoping, by a vigorous 
onset, to repair the injury sustained by the late defeat. 
About four in the afternoon, they encountered a party of 
the Americans, posted with four field-pieces a little to the 
northward of the latter, and compelled them to retreat. 
This advantage, however, was only for a short time retain- 
ed. They were checked by some artillery, stationed on the 
opposite banks of Assanpinck creek, fell back out of the 
reach of the shot, and halted for the night. 

Truly critical, however, was the situation of the Ameri- 
can army. A retreat would endanger Philadelphia, the 
capital of the infant union : an action with a superior force, 
whilst a river lay behind, was dangerous and imprudent. 
But the genius of the commander suggested a relief, by 
Avhich not only defeat might be averted, but victory obtain- 
ed. He determined to get round the advanced party of the 
enemy, and attack them in the rear. Soon after it became 



i33 HISTORY OF 

dark, he ordered the baggage to be silently removed i wheiij 
leaving guards, as well as kindling fires, for the purpose of 
deception, he marched, by a circuitous route, to Princeton. 
This place, situated about ten miles distant towards the 
north, be reached early in the morning ; and would have 
completely surprised the British there, had not a party, on 
their way to Trenton, descried his troops, and sent back 
couriers to give an alarm. The royalists, consisting of three 
regiments of infantry, an artillery corps with two field-pieces, 
and three troops of light dragoons, charged the centre of 
the Americans, on their march. The latter gave way in 
disorder. The danger was extreme. Washington instant- 
ly rushed forward. He placed himself between his own 
men and the British, with his horse's head fronting the lat- 
ter. The Americans made a stand ; returned the enemy's 
fire; and the general, though exposed on both sides, escap- 
ed unhurt. A party of the enemy fled into the college, and 
surrendered. 

In the course of the engagement, sixty of their number 
were killed, many more wounded, and three-hundred made 
prisoners. The rest, eluded capture; some, "by pushing 
on towards Trenton : others, by returning towards Bruns- 
wick. The American loss was numerically small : but 
amongst the killed were some valuable ofliicers; particular- 
ly, general Mercer, a native of Scotland ; who, like Mont- 
gomery, was amiable in private life, brave and experienced 
in the field. 

Whilst they were engaged in Princeton, the British in 
Trenton were under arms, chiding the tardy coming of the 
dawn; which, with confident anticipation, was to light them 
to easy conquest : for, with so much address had the 
stratagem been conducted, that general Washington went 
completely off the ground, with his entire force, stores, 
baggage, and artillery, unobserved and unsuspected. When 
the British heard the report of the artillery at Princeton, 
though it was in the depth of winter, they believed it to be 
thunder: and so great was their consternation, at these un- 
expected movements, that the whole immediately retreated 
to New Brunswick and Amboy. 

During the late occupation. New Jersey had suffered 
dreadfully, in the waste of property and insults upon the 
inhabitants. The soldiers of the royal army, particularly 
the Hessians, had unloosed the reins of every selfish, fero- 
ciotJSj and brutal passion, of human nature. Their officers 



THE UNITED STATES. \S3 

could not restrain them : friends and foes, loyalists and re« 
publicans, all shared a common fate. 

Seldom, however, there happens an evil without a con- 
comitant or succeeding good. That whole country now 
became hostile to the invaders. The militia of New Jer- 
sey, who hitherto, had behaved most disgracefully, from 
this time forward, redeemed their character; and evinced 
a spirit and discipline equal in many respects to what dis- 
tinguishes regular soldiers. 

During those winter movements, both armies suifered 
extraordinary hardships ; but the Americans underwent 
the greatest. Many of these were without shoes, though 
marching over frozen ground ; which so gashed their feet, 
that each step was marked with blood. They were mis- 
erably deficient in blankets, and almost wholly destitute of 
tents. Yet, in this situation, the American army, which, 
after the affair at Princeton, had retired to Morristown, 
■were inoculated ; and, as very few, either of the officers or 
privates, ever had the small-pox, the disorder was nearly 
universal. It had previously spread amongst them in the 
natural way, and proved mortal to many: but, after inocu- 
lation was introduced, the fatality was small ; and the effect 
so gentle, that, from the beginning, there was not a single 
day in which they could not have exchanged the situation 
of invalid for that of soldier, and appeared in arms against 
the English. 

The campaign of one year had not ended, until carried 
into the first month of the succeeding. For some time, 
however, there had existed a state of cpmparative inactivi- 
ty. Since the battle of Princeton, the operations extend- 
ed not beyond a few skirmishes ; unimportant in themselves, 
yet productive of future benefit. At Springfield, a small 
party of Germans were beaten by an equa.1 number of Jer- 
sey militia, under colonel Spencer. Near Somerset court- 
house, general Dickinson, with four-hundred of the same 
description and fifty Pennsylvania riflemen, defeated a large 
foraging party, and got possession of their convoy. Col- 
onel Barton, desirous of retaliating the capture of general 
Lee, embarked with forty militia, in whale-boats, surprised 
general Prescott at his quarters between Newport and Bris- 
tol ferry, in Rhode Island, and brought him to the main 
land. General Putnam was eminently useful, in guarding 
the army against surprise ; and so much vigilance was 
every where displayed, that Sir William Howe was con- 
fined to limits so narrow, as would not, had a purchaser 
12 - 



34 HISTORY OF 

been found, have re-imbursed the expense of the attain- 
ment. 

Hitherto, the Americans were deficient in arms and am- 
munition, as well as in men : but in the spring, they receiv- 
ed from France twenty-thousand stand of arms and a thous- 
and barrels of powder. 

Before the royal army took the field, in prosecution of 
the main business of the campaign, they accomplished 
two enterprises, for the destruction of American stores. 
At Peekskill, about fifty miles from New York, they cap- 
tured or destroyed a considerable quantity of necessary ar- 
ticles; which had been collected there, notwithstanding the 
orders given by general Washington to the commissaries, 
not to allow a large accumulation of provisions near the 
water. At Danbury, the Americans lost sixteen-hundred 
barrels of pork and flour, two-thousand bushels of corn, and 
seventeen-hundred tents. On returning to their ships, the 
British were attacked, at Ridgefield, by a party hastily col- 
lected, under generals Wooster, Arnold, and Silliman, and 
suffered a loss, in killed and wounded, of two or three hun- 
dred men. The Americans had twenty killed ; amongst 
whom, was the brave general Wooster; who, though seven- 
ty years old, behaved with the vigour and spirit of youth. 
Not long after, colonel Meigs, one of the intrepid compan- 
ions of Arnold in the expedition to Canada, led a detach- 
ment of one-hundred-and-seventy men, in whale-boats, to 
Long Island; burned twelve British vessels, with a large 
quantity of forage, in Sagg-Harbour, killed six soldiers, and 
brought off ninety prisoners, without losing a single man. 

As the season advanced, the American army in New 
Jersey was reinforced by the successive arrival of recruits; 
nevertheless, at the opening of the campaign, in the be- 
ginning of June, it amounted only to seven-thousand men. 

General Washington, having left his winter-quarters at 
Morristown, took a strong position at Middlebrook. Sir 
William Howe marched from Brunswick, and extended 
his van as far as Somerset court-house ; but, in a few days, 
was constrained to resume his former station. He then 
endeavoured to provoke General Washington to engage ; 
leaving no manceuyre untried to induce him to quit his 
post. At length, fully convinced of the impossibility of 
compelling a battle, on equal terms, and aware of the dan- 
ger of crossing the Delaware whilst the Americans were 
in his rear, he proceeded to Amboy, and thence passed 
over to Staten Island ; resolved to pursue the objects of 



THE UNITED STATES. 135 

the campaign by another route. His real designs were 
involved in obscurity. Washington was much embarrass- 
ed. The enemy seemed, at one time, moving to the south ; 
at another, to the north. At last, on the 23d of July, their 
main body departed from Sandy Hook, and were reported 
to steer to the southward. A letter from Sir William 
Howe to general Burgoyne, then stationed in Canada, was 
intercepted, which mentioned that they were steering to 
New Hampshire. But the deception was so superficially 
veiled, that, in conjunction with some particulars attending 
the embarkation, it removed the uncertainty from the mind 
of Washington, instead of misleading him to an opposite 
direction. Within an hour after receiving the letter, he 
gave orders for marching to the south. But he was yet so 
much impressed with a conviction that it was the true in- 
terest of Howe to form a junction with Burgoyne, that he 
ordered his army to halt for some time at the Delaware ; 
suspecting that the southern movement was a feint, intend- 
ed to draw him farther from the Hudson. 

The British fleet was a week at sea, before it reached 
Cape Henlopen. Here, Sir William Howe, being inform- 
ed that the passage of the Delaware was obstructed, gave 
up his original intention of reaching Philadelphia by as- 
cending that river, and resolved on a circuitous route, by 
the Chesapeake. From Henlopen, he had a tedious pciS* 
sage. Though the distance, in a direct line, is only about 
forty leagues, twenty days elapsed before he entered the 
capes of Virginia. He proceeded up the bay with a fa- 
vourable wind, and landed his troops, sixteen-thousand in 
number, at Turkey Point. The American army was imme- 
diately put in motion to oppose them. Its number, on pa- 
per, amounted to fourteen-thousand : but its effective force, 
on which dependence might be placed in the day of battle, 
did not much exceed eight-thousand men; many of whom 
were without shoes. Its several divisions were command- 
ed principally by Greene, Maxwell, and Stephens, Stirling, 
Sullivan, and Wayne. The enemy advanced with boldness, 
imtil within two miles of tjie Americans; who were then 
posted near Newport. Washington soon changed his posi- 
tion, and halted on the high ground near Chadd's ford, on 
Brandywine creek; with an intention of disputing the pas- 
sage. It was the wish, but by no means the interest, of the 
Americans, to try their strength in an engagement. Their 
regular troops were inferior, not only in discipline, but, 
in numbers, to the royal army. Popular opinion, however^ 



136 HISTORY OF 

imposed a degree of necessity on the genera!, to keep his 
troops in front of the enemy, and risk an action for the se- 
curity of Philadelphia; though, had he taken the ridge of 
high land on his right, the British, ignorant of his army's 
-weakness, must have respected his numbers, and would 
probably have followed him into the country. By this 
policy, the campaign might have been prolonged; whilst 
the Americans would have been strengthened, and the in- 
vaders wasted, by delay. For once, however, Washington 
reUnquished his usual policy, and hazarded a disadvanta- 
geous action. 

At day -break, on the 1 1th of September, the royal army 
3-noved fonvard in two columns, commanded by Kniphau- 
sen and Cornwaliis. The first kept the direct road to 
Chadd's ford, and made a show of passing it, in front of 
the main body of the Americans: the other column came 
«p on the west side of the Brandywine, to its fork ; cross- 
ing both its branches, and then marching down on its east 
bank, with the viev/ of turning their adversaries' right wing. 
This, they accomplished : after a series of endeavours 
throughout the entire day, the Americans were broken, and 
every exertion to rally them was ineffectual. The retreat 
Tioon became general, and was continued to Chester ; with 
the loss of twelve-hundred men, killed and wounded. 

Two distinguished foreigners served under the Ameri- 
can banners at the Brandywine ; the Marquis De La Fayette 
and count Pulaski; the one, a native of France, the other, 
of Poland. Animated by the love of liberty. La Fayette, 
a nobleman of high rank, had left the country of his birth, 
and offered his service to congress. While in France, and 
only nineteen years of age, he espoused the cause of the 
Americans, with the most disinterested and generous ar- 
dour ; and, having determined to join them, communicated 
his intentions to their commissioners at Paris. His offer 
was gratefully received. They justly considered, that a 
patron of so much importance would be of the utmost ser- 
vice to their cause. Before he embarked, intelligence ar- 
rived in Europe, that the American patriots, reduced to 
tw^o-thousand men, were flying before a British force of 
thirty -thousand ; under which circumstances, the commis- 
sioners thought it their duty to dissuade him from the pres- 
ent prosecution of his dangerous enterprise. But their 
candour was expressed in vain. His zeal to serve a strug- 
gling country, was heightened, not abated, by her misfor- 
tunes. His personal risk was not the only one which might 



THE UNITED STATES. 137 

have deterred him. He hazarded his large fortune, by the 
laws of France ; and also imprisonment, in case of capture 
when on his way to the United ^tates : for, his sovereign 
having forbidden his proceeding, despatched orders to the 
West Indies, to have him, if found in that quarter, confined. 
He was appointed a major-general in the American army; 
an honour, of which he showed himself in the highest man 
ner deserving. Though wounded in the late battle, he 
continued in the field ; exerting himself, not only by his 
voice, but his example, to rally the broken troops. Pulas- 
ki was a " thunderbolt of war." It was he, who, a few 
years before, carried off king Stanislaus from his capital, 
though the monarch was surrounded by a numerous body 
of guards, and by a Russian army. 

The situation of his troops precluded Washington from 
long impeding the enemies' advance. After a few days, he 
was compelled to leave them in undisturbed possession of 
the roads leading to Philadelphia. His troops were worn 
down by a succession of severe duties ; a thousand of his 
men were barefooted ; and, to increase his misfortunes, 
Wayne's regiment, encamped near the Paoli tavern, was at- 
tacked in the night by general Grey, and about fifty of its, 
number slain with the bayonet. 

It was no longer safe for congress to remain in Philadel- 
phia. This august assembly, which, after a short residence 
at Baltimore, had returned, were obliged, a second time, to 
consult the public interest, by flight. They retired, first to 
Lancaster, and afterwards to York. 

Sir William Howe, having left the greater part of his 
army in Germantown, a village about six miles northward 
of the capital, entered Philadelphia on the 26th of Septem- 
ber; where he was received by many with a real or appar- 
ent welcome. 

The possession of the largest city in the United States, 
together with the dispersion of that grand council which 
had hitherto conducted their affairs, was viewed by the 
short-sighted as decisive of their fate. But, in the present 
contest for sovereignty, the result was not in the power of 
a single ruler, or a body of rulers, nor was it to be deter- 
mined by the possession, or the loss, of any particular place : 
it was the public mind, the sentiments and opinions of the 
people, that were to decide. Indeed, it was conceived by 
the more discerning politicians, that the luxuries of a great 
city would so far enervate the British troops, as to indis- 
pose them, like the conquerors of Cannae, for those active 

]0* 



138 HISTORY OF 

exertions, to which they were compelled, whilst inconteni- 
ently encamped in the open country. This speculation 
was inculcated in France by Dr. Franklin, with his charac- 
teristic humour. To remove the impression which the 
British progress might have made in that country, and 
place a modern Capua in view, he observed, that, " Instead 
of saying Sir William Howe had taken Philadelphia, it 
would be more proper to say that Philadelphia had taken 
Sir William Howe." 

One of the first objectsof the English, after they had ob- 
tained possession of the city, was to erect batteries for the 
purpose of commanding the river and protecting the town 
from insult by water. On the other hand, the British ship- 
ping were prevented from ascending the Delaware, by ob- 
structions sunk at Mud Island; on which had been erected 
a battery, and a fort, called in honour of general Mifflin. 
Opposite to this, on the Jersey shore, there is a height 
called Red-bank ; where, also, a battery was erected : and 
between the two fortresses, which were about half a mile 
distant from each other, the American naval armament for 
the protection of the Delaware made its harbour of retreat. 

The flattering anticipations, cherished by the continental 
patriots, that effeminacy would forfeit the acquirements of 
the sword, were not sufficiently powerful to check the ac- 
customed vigour of the field. Such refinements enter not 
amongst the calculations of the soldier. He rests his hope 
on the more decisive agency of arms. General W^ashing- 
ton, having been reinforced by twenty-five-hundred men, 
and informed that Sir William Howe had detached a con- 
siderable party for reducing the works in the Delaware, 
conceived the design of secretly issuing from his position 
at Skippack creek, and attacking the British post at Ger- 
rnantown. Their line of encampment crossed the town at 
right angles, near its centre; their left wing extending to the 
Schuylkill, with strong parties of chasseurs and infantry 
stationed in advance. The American divisions of Sullivan 
and Wayne, flanked by Conway's brigade, were to enter 
the town by the way of Chesnut-hill ; whilst general Arm- 
strong, with the Pennsylvania militia, should fall down 
Manatawny road, and attack the British in the left and rear. 
The divisions of Greene and Stephens, flanked by M'Dou- 
gal's brigade, were to proceed by the Lime-Kiln road ; the 
militia of Maryland and Jersey, under generals Smallwood, 
and Furman, by the old York road, and fall upon the rear 



THE UNITED STATES. 139 

t)f their right ; and Stirling, with Nash's and Maxwell's 
brigades, were to form a corps of reserve. 

The Americans began the attack about sun-rise on the 
4th of October. Their first assault obliged a body on Ches- 
nut-hill road to retreat with precipitation ; but a thick fog, 
concealing the true situation of the parties, occasioned mis- 
takes, and an ill-judged attempt to expel a party from Mrs. 
Chew's large stone house, caused so much delay, that the 
British had time to recover from their first surprise. The 
Americans left the field hastily, and all efforts to rally them 
were ineffectual. General Stephens was cashiered for mis- 
conduct in the retreat. Their loss, including four-hundred 
prisoners, was a thousand men. Among the slain, were 
general Nash, and his aid-de-camp, major Witherspoon. 
Of the royal army, general Agnew and colonel Bird were 
killed, and about five-hundred others, slain, wounded, or 
made prisoners. 

Soon after this battle, the British left Germantown, and 
devoted their principal attention towards opening a free 
communication between their army and their shipping. 
Two-thousand Hessians, led by colonel Donop, made a fu- 
rious attack on Red-bank, but were repulsed, with consid- 
erable loss, by colonel Greene ; and an assault, about the 
same time, on Fort Mifflin, by a naval force, was equally 
disastrous. However, their next attempt counterbalanced 
these misfortunes. The accumulation of sand against the 
cheveaux-de-frise, placed between these works, having, at 
length, obstructed the passage of the water, the current was 
diverted into a new channel, and deepened the river on the 
Pennsylvania side of Mud Island ; so as to admit vessels of 
considerable draught. This post, therefore, was no longer 
tenable. A large English ship, cut down, so as to require 
only a small depth of water, enfiladed the works. Colonel 
Smith, who had bravely defended the place during more 
than forty days, being wounded, was removed to the main ; 
and, within a week afterwards. Major Thayer, who had 
volunteered to take charge of this dangerous post, was 
obliged to save his remaining companions by an evacuation. 
This was not done, however, until the works were entirely 
beaten down, every piece of cannon was dismounted, and 
one of the British ships so near, that she threw hand-gre- 
nades into the fort, and killed the men upon the platform. 
Three days afterwards, the garrison were withdrawn from 
Red-bank ; and, thus, the British accomplished the much 
tlesired communication.— The conduct of colonel Smith and 



UO HISTORY OF 

commodore Hazelwood obtained the thanks of congresSj 
signified by their voting to each a sword ; their long pro- 
tracted defence of the Delaware having deranged the ene- 
my's plans for the remainder of the campaign, and, conse- 
quently, saved the adjacent country. 

About this time, the presidential chair of congress be- 
came vacant, by the departure of Mr. Hancock ; after he 
had ably discharged its duties for nearly two years and a 
half. In his place, was elected Mr. Laurens, of South Car- 
olina ; a gentleman of easy fortune, much political experi- 
ence, and incorruptible integrity : whom, the danger of 
losing one estate could not intimidate, nor the offer of a 
larger, corrupt. 

The season for action was now almost spent, and with the 
season, the desire of the British general for battle. After 
a mutual display of the military art, by Sir William Howe 
and the cautious Washington, both retired to winter quar- 
ters ; the former into Philadelphia, the latter to Valley 
Forge. At this place, which is distant from the city about 
twenty miles, his companions, in a great measure without 
shoes or stockings, tents or blankets, all cheerfully retired 
into a wood, in the lattei' end of December ; sheltering 
themselves from the severity of an American winter in tem- 
porary huts. 

During these operations in the middle districts, a war, 
equally extensive, and of more important issue, was prose- 
cuting in the north. 

Sanguine in their expectation of forming a line of com- 
munication between New York and Canada, the British 
ministry had left nothing undone that could promote suc- 
cess. The troops destined for this service were upwards 
of seven-thousand ; with a train of artillery, the finest, and 
the most efficiently supplied, that had ever been assigned 
to second the operations of an equal force. Arms and ac- 
coutrements were provided foi' the Canadians, and several 
nations of Indians induced to take up the hatchet under 
the royal banners. The command was given to general 
Burgoyne ; an officer whose abilities were well known, and 
whose spirit of enterprise, and thirst of military fame, could 
not be exceeded. The British had the exclusive navigation 
of lake Champlain. Their marine force on that inland sea, 
with which, in the preceding campaign, they had destroyed 
the American flotilla, was not only entire, but unopposed. 

Having gained possession of Ticonderoga, as well as of 
the other defences which had served to prevent or to im- 



THE UNITED STATES, 141 

pede the advance of an enemy into the United States on 
the side of Canada, and with a degree of alacrity and per- 
severance that could not be excelled, reached Fort Edward, 
on the Hudson, Burgoyne proceeded, in the beginning of 
August, to force his passage down towards Albany. In the 
meantime, every obstruction had been thrown in his way, 
by Schuyler, Arnold, St. Clair, and other vigilant com- 
manders ; who, at this period, owing to the evacuation of 
the norihern forts, and the exertions of the leading patriots 
in New York and the contiguous provinces, had in that 
quarter an army of thirteen-thousand men. 

In his advance to Albany, Burgoyne formed a plan to 
draw resources from the farms of Vermont. For this pur- 
pose, he detached five-hundred Hessians and one-hundred 
Indians, wath two field-pieces, under the command of colo- 
nel Baum ; a force deemed sufficient to seize a magazine 
of provisions collected by the Americans at Bennirsgton. 
But he proceeded with less caution than his perilous situ- 
ation required. On the 16th of August, colonel Starke 
attacked him, near that place, with about eight-hundred 
New Hampshire militia, — undisciplined, without bayonets, 
or a single piece of artillery ; killed or captured the greater 
part of his detachment, and got possession of his cannon. 
This was a brilliant service. Another achievement, scarce- 
ly less conspicuous, immediately succeeded. Colonel Brey- 
man, who had been sent by general Burgoyne to support 
that party, arrived on the same ground, and on the same 
day, not, however, until the action was decided. Instead 
of meeting his friends, he found himself vigorously assailed. 
This attack was made by colonel Warner ; who, with his 
continental regiment, had come up, also to support his 
friends, and was well assisted by Starke's militia, v/hich 
had just defeated the party of colonel Baum. Breyman's 
troops, though fatigued with the preceding march, behaved 
with great resolution ; but were at length obliged to aban- 
don their artillery, and retreat. In these two actions, the 
Americans took four brass field-pieces, four ammunition 
wagons, and seven-hundred prisoners. 

The overthrow of these detachments was the first, in a 
grand series of events, that finally involved in ruin the whole 
royal army. It deranged every plan for continuing, or even 
holding, the advantages previously obtained ; inspired the 
republicans with confidence, animated their exertions, and 
filled them with justly-formed expectations of future vic- 
tory. 



142 HISTORY OF 

After the evacuation of Ticonderoga, the Americans had 
fallen back, from one place to another, until they at last 
rested at Vanshaick's island. Soon after this retreating 
system was adopted, congress removed their commanding 
officers, and placed general Gates at the head of the north- 
ern army. His arrival, on the 19th of August, gave fresh 
vigour to the inhabitants. Encouraged by a hope of cap- 
turing the whole British forces, a spirit of adventure burst 
forth from every quarter, and was carried into various direc- 
tions. An enterprise was undertaken by general Lincoln, 
to recover Ticonderoga and the other posts in the rear of the 
British anny ; and, though the first object was not accom- 
plished, yet with so much address did colonel Brown, who 
was despatched to the landing at lake George, proceed, that, 
with five-hundred men, he surprised all the out-posts be- 
tween the landing at the north end of the lake and the body 
of that fortress; took Mount Defiance and Mount Hope, the 
old French lines, and a block-house ; also two-hundred bat- 
teaux, several gun-boats, besides two-hundred-and-ninety 
prisoners ; and, at the same time released one-hundred 
Americans. 

Burgoyne, after crossing the Hudson, advanced along its 
banks, and encamped about two miles from general Gates ; a 
short distance above Still-Water. The Americans thought 
no more of retreating ; and, on the 19th of September, en- 
gaged him with firmness and resolution. The conflict, 
though severe, was only partial, for the first hour and a half; 
but, after a short pause, it became general, and continued for 
three hours without any intermission. A constant blaze of 
fire was kept up, and both sides seemed determined on vic- 
tory or death. The Americans and British were alternate- 
ly driven by each other, until night ended the effusion of 
blood. The enemy lost five-hundred men, including killed, 
wounded, and prisoners ; the Americans, three-hundred. 

Every moment made the situation of the British army 
more critical. Their provisions were lessening, their In- 
dia.n and provincial allies deserting ; whilst the animation 
and numbers of the Americans increased. From the un- 
certainty of receiving farther supplies, Burgoyne curtailed 
the soldiers' rations. His opponents pressed him on every 
side. Much hard fighting ensued. The British were again 
defeated. One of Burgoyne's generals, together with his 
aid-de-camp, was killed, and he himself narrowly escaped ; 
as a ball passed through his hat, and another through his 
waistcoat. The American generals Arnold and Lincoln 



THE UNITED STATES. ii^ 

were wounded. To avoid being surrounded, general Bur- 
goyne left his hospital to the humanity of Gates, and retreat- 
ed to Saratoga. He was still followed, and harassed ; driven 
on one side and straitened on another. The situation of 
his army was truly distressing : abandoned by their allies, 
unsupported by their fellow -soldiers in New York, worn 
down by a series of incessant efforts, and greatly reduced 
in their numbers ; without a possibility of retreat, or of re- 
plenishing their exhausted stock of provisions ; a continual 
cannonade pervaded their camp, and grape-shot fell in 
many parts of their lines. 

The 12th of October arrived ; the day until which hope 
had bidden the ajfflicted general wait for the promised assist- 
ance from New York. But expectation vanished with the 
departing sun. He took an account of his provisions. 
There was only a scanty subsistence for three days. A 
council of war declared that their present situation justified 
a capitulation on honourable terms ; and a negotiation was 
commenced. After various messages passed between the 
hostile armies, it was stipulated, that, on the 17th, the Brit- 
ish were to march out of their camp with the customary 
honours of war; the arms to be piled by word of command 
from their own officers; and an undisturbed passage allow- 
ed them to Great Britain, on condition of their not serving 
again in North America during the war. 

By this convention, were surrendered five-thousand-sev- 
en-hundred-and-ninety, of all ranks ; which number, added 
to the killed, wounded, and prisoners, lost by the royal army 
during the preceding part of the expedition, made, alto- 
gether, upwards of ten-thousand men ; an advantage ren- 
dered still more important to the captors, by the acquisi- 
tion of thirty-five brass field-pieces, and nearly five-thousand 
muskets. The regular troops in general Gates' army were 
nine-thousand; the militia, four-thousand: but, of the for- 
mer, two-thousand were sick or on furlough ; and of the lat- 
ter, five-hundred. 

The celebrated Polish patriot, Kosciuski was chief en- 
gineer in the army of general Gates. 

On learning the fate of Burgoyne, the British on the 
North river retired to New York. Those who had been left 
in his rear destroyed their cannon, and, abandoning Ticon- 
deroga, retreated to Canada ; so that this whole country, 
after experiencing for several months the devastations of 
war, was now restored to perfect tranquillity. 

Amongst the numerous tragical events arising from, the 



144 HISTORY OF 

employment of the Indians by the British, one scene was 
presented, which we select, not as having relation to the 
public concerns of the army, bat from the interest which 
it excites. This was, the murder of a Miss M'Crea. The 
engaging manners and beauty of this young lady having 
gained the heart of a British officer, he induced a return 
of his affection, and her consent to become his wife. Anx- 
ious for her safety, he wished to remove her from the neigh- 
bourhood of a hostile army. On the day appointed for 
the nuptials, he engaged a party of Indians to convey her 
to the camp ; promising to reward the person who would 
accompany her, with a barrel of rum. Tvt'O of the Indians, 
both eager for the reward, disputed, after conveying her 
some distance," which should present her to the intended 
husband ; and the one killed her with his tomahawk, to 
prevent the other from receiving it. Many will here ex- 
claim. This is characteristic of the Indians. But it is other- 
wise : it is a remarkable deviation from tneir accustomed 
veneration for the weaker sex. The most delicate females 
have been led captive by them for days and weeks, through 
the midst of the unfrequented forest, without experiencing 
the smallest degree of injury or insult. 

It has been already mentioned, that congress had laid 
the foundation of a national fleet, and authorized the fitting 
out of private armed vessels. Commodore Hopkins, cap- 
tain-general of the navy, made a sudden descent at New- 
Providence, where he seized a large quantity of, warlike 
stores, and in his return engaged a British frigate, and cap- 
tured an armed brig. The American privateers rapidly 
increased, and were unusually successful. In the iirst nine 
months of 1776, embracing the period of their existence in 
that year, they captured property worth a million sterling. 
In the present year, they advanced in boldness. They car- 
ried their enterprising spirit to a degree unprecedented by 
the vessels of any nation ; obliging the enemy to appoint 
convoys, for the purpose of guarding their commerce, even 
in the Irish channel. Captain Barney and the volunteers 
who accompanied him in the Hyder Ally, a vessel equip- 
ped by the inhabitants of Philadelphia, achieved an hon- 
ourable service, by capturing a sloop of war, much supe- 
rior in force, off the Delaware : but the most daring of all 
the officers sailing under the republican flag, was a native 
of Scotland ; the celebrated Paul Jones. 

Until the capture of Burgoyne, the European nations 
viewed the war between Great Britain and her colonies 



THE UNITED STATES. 145 

mily as spectators. Anxious for the territorial dismem- 
berment of a powerful rival : yet, fearful that an early 
interference might heal the breach it was their interest to 
widen ; they had cautiously abstained from positive declara- 
tions of assistance, whilst there remained any appearance 
of conciliation or any danger of defeat. France was the 
first ally which the breath of hostility carried to the aid of 
America. Even the sound of freedom, so discordant to the 
ear of royalty, was not sufficient to destroy the inveterate 
competition. Her sovereign consented that the colonies 
should be free, if Britain could, by that means, be render- 
ed weak. On the 6th of February, a treaty, nego- 
tiated by Silas Deane, Dr. Franklin, and Arthur 
Lee, was signed by the United States and Lewis the Six- 
teenth ; on the basis of perfect reciprocity of interest, and 
in which the French monarch guarantied their commerce 
and independence. 

Only three days had elapsed, when the British govern- 
ment received information of this treaty. Immediately, 
fresh terms of reconcilement were transmitted to their com- 
manders in the United States, and offered to the consider- 
ation of congress at York ; but, notwithstanding that this 
assembly was yet ignorant of the important European aid, 
they were again rejected. The English ministry proposed, 
that no military force should be stationed in North Ameri- 
ca, without the approbation of the colonies ; and that, to 
remove the former objections against the laying on of taxes, 
unless with an accompanying representation, provincial 
deputies should be allowed a seat in the parliament of Brit- 
ain. But the United States would consider no propositions 
which did not include their independence. Their citizens 
could not be intimidated in the field, nor purchased in the 
cabinet. To an offer of court remuneration, made through a 
late royal governor, Johnstone, to colonel Joseph Reed, an 
influential member of congress, this patriot replied : " I 
am not worth purchasing ; yet, such as I am, the king of 
Great Britain is not rich enough to buy me." 

It has already been mentioned, that the hostile armies of 
Washington and Howe had withdrawn into their respective 
winter-quarters ; the former to the huts at Valley Forge ; 
the latter, into the warm accommodation of Philadelphia. 
That season, and the early part of summer, were almost 
elapsed, without producing any events more remarkable 
than a few successful excursions of the royal troops into the 
neighbouring country, for the purpose of bringing in sup- 
13 



146 HISTORY OF 

plies, and destroying merchandise and shipping. The trea- 
ty with France roused both armies from their long-continu- 
ed inaction. Apprehensive that a French fleet would be 
despatched to block up the British squadron in the Dela- 
ware, the ministry ordered Sir Henry Clinton, who had re- 
cently succeeded general Howe in the command of the 
British army, to evacuate Philadelphia, and concentrate the 
royal forces in New York. Accordingly, the troops in that 
city passed, on the 22d of .Tune, by the way of Gloucester 
Point, into New Jersey. The intended mov .ment was not 
unknown to Washington. FIc immediately sent general 
Maxwell's brigade to co-operate with the Jersey militia in 
obstructing their progress, then crossing the Delaware at 
Coryell's Ferry, above Trenton, followed with his whole ar- 
my, and halted in the vicinity of Princeton. From this, fif- 
teen-hundred men were detached, to act against their flanks 
and rear, under the command of general Scott. The British 
were at this time proceedii^g towards Sandy Hook, by the 
way of AUentown and Monmouth court-house. Another 
detachment was sent forward, under general Wayne, ac- 
companied by La Fayette : the latter having orders to take 
charge of both the advanced parties ; a command which af- 
terwards devolved on Lee ; who had been exchanged for 
general Prescott. The main body followed at a proper dis- 
tance, and reached Cranbury on the 28th. But, when they 
had proceeded a few miles farther, Washington was sur- 
prised to find Lee retreating ; without having offered any 
obstruction of importance. The commander in chief re- 
monstrated ; Lee replied with warmth and unbecoming lan- 
guage ; but, at length, consented to fight the enemy on a 
piece of ground which Washington assigned him. A warm 
cannonade immediately began between the artillery, and a 
heavy firing of musketry between the advanced troops, of 
the British and Americans. These stood their ground un- 
til intermixed with the enemy ; and general Lee was the 
last on the field of battle, and brought off* the rear of the re- 
tiring troops. The advantage, however, which the British 
thus gained, was only momentary. The check which they 
had received enabled Washington to make a favourable dis- 
position of his left wing and his second line in a wood ; and 
to plant some cannon on an eminence, under the able direc- 
tion of lord Stirling. Generals Greene and Wayne, also, 
bore a conspicuous part in the engagement ; which was 
continued with much spirit until dark. In the night, the 
British troops went off, with so much silence, that general 



THE UNITED STATES. 147 

Poor, though very near them, knew nothing of then' de- 
parture ; and, continumg their march without farther in- 
terruption, they soon reached Sandy Hook. The Ameri- 
cans proceeded for the borders of North River. Colonel 
Bonner, of Pennsylvania, and major Dickenson, of Virginia, 
two highly-esteemed officers, were amongst the slain. Be- 
sides the usual destruction attending military engagements, 
the emotions of the mind, added to fatigue in a very hot 
day, brought on so great a suppression of the vital powers, 
that sixty of the British, and some of the Americans, were 
found dead on the field of battle, without any marks of vio- 
lence. 

The conduct of general Lee could not be withheld from 
investigation. The public interest demanded a proper scru- 
tiny. He was tried by a court martial ; and, being pro- 
nounced guilty of making an unnecessary retreat ; of dis- 
obedience of orders, and disrespect to the commander in 
chief; was sentenced to be suspended from his professional 
functions for the space of one year : a judgment, which, 
though according with the majority in the United States, 
was not without dissentients ; as, whilst every one admitted 
his violence, and impatience of subordination, none seemed 
to question his fidelity and courage. 

Soon after the battle of Monmouth, the American army 
took a station at White Plains, beyond Kingsbridge; where, 
the British, though only a few miles distant, did not molest 
them. They remained there from an early day in July until 
nearly the end of autumn, and then retired to Middle Brook, 
in Jersey ; at which place, they built for themselves huts, 
in the same manner as at Valley Forge. 

Immediately on the departure of the British from Phila- 
delphia, congress returned to its former place of delibera- 
tion, and soon afterwards, had a new, and most pleasing, 
duty, to perform — to give public audience to a minister 
plenipotentiary of France. Thus, in little more than a cen- 
tury and a half from the period when their struggling germe 
was planted amidst the forest, the United States had attain- 
ed an elevated rank amongst the sovereign nations of the 
earth . 

The first object of the French fleet, as had been conjec- 
tured by the British government, was to surprise their ad- 
miral in the Delaware. But its passage from Toulon had 
been so tedious, that lord Howe, by sailing to New York, 
was enabled to evade the almost certain mortification of 
yielding to a doubly superior force ; a remarkable escape ; 



U8 HISTORY OF 

from which, as the interest of the colonies did not finally 
suffer, it is not, in one point of view, to be regretted. The 
subsequent conduct of the French admiral, D'Estaign, in 
avoiding his antagonist; who, though reinforced by a squad- 
ron sent from England with lord Byron, was still his infe- 
rior ; induces a generous mind to withhold, even from one's 
ally, an easily acquired victory. Much inconvenience ac- 
crued to the land-troops of the United States from this want 
of co-operation by the admiral ; and Rhode Island was evac- 
uated by the brave men intrusted with its recovery from 
the British. 

The disastrous invasion of Canada had not taught con- 
gress the impolicy of carrying the war out of the limits 
of the Union : an enterprise against Florida, conducted by 
the American general Howe, with two-thousand men, of 
whom, a fourth were surrendered victims to the climate, 
exhibited, again, the unprofitable waste of foreign expedi- 
tions. 

Hitherto, the British had made only a feeble effort to 
promote the grand object of the war, by operations in the 
south. More than two years of comparative enjoyment had 
been allowed that portion of the states. But, at this peri- 
od, Georgia, one of the weakest members of the Union, and 
moreover, abounding with provisions, being marked out as 
the most advantageous ground on which to try the fortune 
of the English arms, in November, colonel Campbell, an 
officer of known courage and ability, arrived at Savannah, 
with about two-thousand men. From the landing-place, 
a narrow causeway of six-hundred yards in length, with a 
ditch on each side, led through a swamp. A body of the 
British light infantry moved forward along this passage. 
On their advance, they received a heavy fire from a small 
party posted under the command of captain Smith ; but 
the British forced their way, and compelled the others to 
retreat. General Howe, the American officer to whom the 
defence of Georgia was committed, took his station on the 
main road; and posted his little army, consisting of about 
one-thousand continentals and militia, between the landing- 
place and the town: with the river on his left, and a morass 
in front : a position which offered great difficulties before 
he could be dislodged. But these were obviated by a for- 
tuitous event. Information being received from a negro, 
of an unguarded path through the swamp, a party of the 
British found their way unobserved, and appeared in the 
rear of the Americans. Howe ordered an immediate re- 



THE UNITED STATES. 149 

treat ; the British pursued : upwards of a hundred Ameri- 
cans were killed ; four-hundred-and-fifty officers and pri- 
vates, seven pieces of cannon, the fort, with its ammunition 
and stores, the shipping in the, river, and a large quantity 
of provisions, were all, in the space of a few hours, in pos- 
session of the enemy. 

With the capital of Georgia, the entire province, also, 
seemed re-united to the British crown. Colonel Campbell 
acted with great policy in securing the submission of the 
inhabitants. His moderation and prudence were more suc- 
cessful in reconciling their minds to the former constitu- 
tion, than the severity which had generally been adopted 
by other British commanders ; as Georgia was the only 
state in the Union, in which, after the declaration of inde- 
pendence, a legislative body assembled under the authori- 
ty of Great Britain. 

Meanwhile, general Prevost arrived, with his troops 
from St. Augustine, and, having in his way overpowered 
the garrison at Sunbury, took the command of all the Brit- 
ish forces in the province : at which period, the campaign 
ended; the least animated of any since the beginning of the 
war. 

In the American marine, severe loss had been sustained, 
from the destruction of srme of its largest vessels in the 
Delaware ; yet, for these misfortunes, regret produced no 
higher feeling than had arisen from the diminution of na- 
tional power. But the fate of the Randolph was unusual- 
ly afflicting. This vessel, a frigate of thirty-six guns and 
three-hundred men, having sailed on a cruise from Charles- 
ton, and engaged, in the night, an English vessel of sixty- 
four guns, in about a quarter of an hour, blew up ; when 
only four of her men were saved upon the fragment of the 
wreck. These had subsisted, during four days, on rain- 
water, which they drank from a piece of blanket. On the 
fifth day, captain Vincent, of the British vessel, Yarmouth, 
on discovering them, humanely suspended a chase, and 
took the wretched sufferers on board. Captain Biddle, the 
commander of the Randolph, was universally lamented. 
In the prime of life; skilled in his professional duties; bold 
in their execution; he had excited high anticipations of fu- 
ture benefit to his country. 

The inadequacy of the provision made for the support of 
military officers, had induced many resignations. This 
forced on congress some improvement in their situation. 
From a conviction of the justice and policy of renderintj: 



150 HISTORY OF 

commissions valuable, impressed by the warm but disinter- 
ested recommendations of general Washington, that body 
resolved, that half-pay should be allowed their officers, for 
the term of seven years after the expiration of their service ; 
a remuneration subsequently extended to the duration of 
their lives. 

- Throughout the year into which we are now en- 
tering, the British aimed at little more, in the states 
to the north of Carolina, than depredation and distress. 
For this purpose, they planned several expeditions. Sir 
George Collier and general Matthews, accompanied by na- 
val and land forces, having, in May, proceeded to Virginia,. 
took possession of Portsmouth ; crossed the river to the 
remains of Norfolk, and seized the shipping. They next 
marched to Suffolk, Kemp's Landing, Gosport, and other 
places in the neighbourhood; burned or otherwise destroy- 
ed the naval stores, shipping, and provisions, and embark- 
ing with three-thousand hogsheads of tobacco, returned in 
safety to New York. Soon afterwards, governor Tryon 
was despatched, with a similar intention, against Connecti- 
cut. Accompanied by a numerous force, under the escort 
of admiral Collier, he landed at East Haven ; then, visited 
New Haven, Fairfield, and Norwalk ; in each of which 
places, there was exhibited a barbarous scene of plunder 
and burning, insult and devastation. No object was too 
valuable, none too contemptible, to save it fix)m destruction, 
or their grasp. No building was sufficiently sacred to re- 
strain the torch : what was spared by one party, in the 
morning, was, by another, in the evening, destroyed. 

Whilst they were carrying on this desultory warfare, the 
American army was incapable of covering the country ; or 
the navy, of protecting the creeks and harbours. Had 
Washington divided his army, in conformity with the 
wishes of the invaded, he would have subjected his whole 
force to be destroyed. It was, therefore, his uniform prac- 
tice, to risk no more than was consistent with the general 
safety : and to lie, with his main body, at a convenient dis- 
tance from the head quarters of the British. Flis army 
was, at this period, stationed on both sides of the North 
river ; the enemy, within their lines, at New York. 

This campaign, though barren of important events, was 
distinguished, on the fifteenth of July, by one of the most 
gallant enterprises that occurred during the whole war, — 
the capture of Stony-Point, on the North river, by general 
Wayne. 



THE UNITED STATES. 151 

!But that achievement, as well as the brilliant surprise of 
an English garrison at Paulus Hook, by major Lee, was 
more than counterbalanced by the disastrous termination 
of an enterprise made by the state of Massachusetts, with- 
out the knowledge of general Washington, against a Brit- 
ish post at Penobscot. The land-forces were intrusted to 
general Lovel ; the fleet, to commodore Saltonstall. In- 
stead of boldly assaulting the half-finished works, upon 
which not a single gun was, at his first appearance, mount- 
ed, the general sat respectfully down, at seven-hundred- 
and-fifty yards distance, as before a regular fortification, 
proceeded to erect a battery, and cannonaded the feebly de- 
fended place, for about a fortnight. This delay gave time 
for admiral Collier to arrive with his squadron to its relief. 
The American fleet, being overpowered, was either captur- 
ed or destroyed. Lovel converted the siege into a retreat; 
and, not only with his soldiers, but the seamen also, who 
had escaped on shore, had to return to Boston, a great part 
of the way by land, through thick and unfrequented woods. 

We must again lend our attention to the southern states. 
In Carolina and Georgia, the royal forces were now carry- 
hig on a vigorous warfare. Although, in the north, hostili- 
ties had no other than the avowed object of wasting a coun- 
try which could not be enjoyed, the re-establishment of 
British authority was seriously attempted in the south. To 
superintend the American forces in that quarter, congress 
appointed general Lincoln. But his army, excepting a few 
hundred regulars, consisted only of inexperienced, disor- 
derly militia ; who added more to his numbers than to his 
strength. 

The first object of the British at Savannah, after being 
reinforced by the junction of the troops from St. Augustine, 
was to get possession of Port Royal, in Carolina. From 
this, however, their detachment was gallantly repulsed, by- 
general Moultrie. Restrained in that direction, they ex- 
tended themselves over a great part of Georgia; fixing posts 
at Ebenezer and Augusta, and endeavouring to increase 
their strength, by drawing to their standard the " tories'* 
in the western districts of this state and Carolina. Several 
hundreds of these royalists proceeded towards Augusta. 
Their general character was that of a plundering banditti, 
more solicitous for booty than for the interest of the king. 
They immediately began to rob the defenceless settlements. 
But they were not allowed to commit, with impunity, so 
atrocious an outrage against society. Colonel Pickens, 



152 HISTORY OF 

having assembled a few hundred of the inhabitants, over- 
took them at Kettle-creek ; and, in three-quarters of an 
hour, kiiied, captured, or dispersed the entire. 

General Lincoln fixed encampments on the Carolina side 
of the Savannah river, at Black Swamp, nearly opposite to 
Augusta. From these posts, he formed a plan of enter- 
ing Georgia ; with a view of limiting the British to the low 
country, near the ocean. In the execution of this design, 
general Ashe, with fifteen-hundred North Carolina militia 
and a few regular troops, after crossing the Savannah, took 
a position on Briar-creek; but, on the 3d of March, he was 
surprised by colonel Prevost ; who, having made a circuit- 
ous march, came on his rear with nine-hundred men. The 
militia were thrown into confusion, and fled at the first fire. 
One-hundred-and-fifty of the Americans were killed, and as 
many taken prisoners. The few continentals, under Elbert, 
made a brave resistance; but the survivers of this body, 
with their gallant leader, were at last compelled to surren- 
der. This event was a serious misfortune. It deprived 
general Lincoln of one-fourth of his numbers, and opened a 
communication between the British, the Indians, and the 
royalists of North and South Carolina. 

Great apprehensions were accordingly entertained for the 
safety of the adjacent states. The militia of South Caro- 
lina was therefore more efficiently organized, a regiment of 
cavalry embodied, and John Rutledge, a man of distinguish- 
ed abilities, called to the provincial chair; and, in conjunc- 
tion with his council, invested with dictatorial power. The 
original design of penetrating into Georgia, was now re- 
sumed; and troops, under general Lincoln, for that purpose 
began their march. But, when he had ascended about a 
hundred-and-fifty miles towards the head of the Savannah, 
general Prevost, availing himself of the critical moment, 
crossed, with twenty-four-hundred, over the same river, into 
Carolina. Proceeding for the capital, he drove before him 
one division left under Moultrie, to defend the frontiers ; 
but, at the same time, he was himself followed by another, 
under Lincoln ; who had re-crossed the Savannah, intend- 
ing to arrest the enemy's progress to Charleston. Had the 
British general continued his march, with the same rapidi- 
ty with which it was begun, he might have entered the 
town by a coufi-de-main : but he halted two or three days, 
when advanced nearly half the distance; and, thus, allowed 
the Carolinians to make extensive preparations towards its 
defence. For its security, all the houses in the suburbs 



THE UNITED STATES. I53 

were burned ; lines were carried, in its rear, across the 
peninsula, between Ashley and Cooper rivers, cannon 
mounted along the whole extent, and three-thousand men 
assembled within the works. 

The main body and baggage of the English army being 
left on the south side of Ashley river, a detachment of nine- 
hundred men crossed the ferry, and appeared before the 
town. But, after a short stay, which the defenders had 
artfully consumed by negotiations, the British general, in- 
formed that Lincoln was coming on his rear, retreated with 
his whole force to the islands near the sea. Both armies 
observed each other's motions, imtil the 20th of June ; 
when, an attack was made by general Lincoln, with about 
twelve-hundred men, on six or seven-hundred of the British, 
advantageously posted at Stono-ferry : but, owing to some 
mismanagement, by which the assailants were disappointed 
in support, they were under the necessity of withdrawing ; 
after being deprived of the services of one-hundred-and-fifty 
men, who were killed or wounded. Amongst the slain, 
was colonel Roberts ; an artillery officer of distinguished 
abilities. Bred to arms in his native country, England, he 
had been particularly serviceable in diffusing military know- 
ledge amongst the less informed of the American officers. 
His last moments were truly characteristic cf the soldier. 
Being visited on the field of battle by his son, captain Rob- 
erts, of his own regiment, the expiring father, presenting 
to him his sword, " Behave worthy of it," he said ; <' use it 
in defence of liberty and your country. Return to your 
proper station : there, you may be useful ; but, to me, you 
can now be of no service." 

Immediately after this repulse, the American militia, im- 
patient of absence from their homes, retired to their plan- 
tations : the continentals, under the command of Lincoln, 
withdrew to Sheldon ; a healthy situation in the vicinity of 
Beaufort ; and the British retreated to Port Royal and Sa- 
vannah. 

Both armies remained in their respective encampments, 
until the arrival of a French fleet on the coast of Georgia, 
roused the whole country to activity. Admiral D'Estaign, 
by the desire of the authorities in Carolina, having sailed, 
on the first of September, from the West Indies, appeared 
so unexpectedly to the British, that a ship of fifty guns and 
three frigates fell into his hands. General Lincoln march- 
ed towards Savannah; and orders were given for the militia 
ef Georgia and South Carolina to rendezvous near the same 



154 > HISTORY OF 

place. The British were equally diligent in preparing for 
defence. D'Estaign, previous to the arrival of Lincoln, 
had demanded the surrender of the town ; upon w^hich, 
Prevost asked for a suspension of hostilities, during twenty- 
four hours, that he might prepare terms of capitulation. 
This was inconsiderately granted. Before the time elapsed, 
several hundred British soldiers, who had been stationed at 
Beaufort, made their way through many obstacles, and 
joined the royal army in Savannah ; and the works were 
hourly strengthened by the labour of the negroes, directed 
by a skilful engineer. As the hurricane season was ap- 
proaching, when it would be imprudent for D'Estaign to 
risk his fleet on so dangerous a coast, an assault, or imme- 
diate retreat were the only alternatives. A sense of honour 
determined the besiegers to adopt the former. On the 9th 
of October, before day, two feints were made with the coun- 
try militia, and a real attack on Spring-Hill battery, with 
thirty-five-hundred French troops, six-hundred cantinent- 
als, and three-hundred-and-fifty inhabitants of Charleston, 
under the command of D'Estaign and Lincoln : but a heavy 
fire from the batteries and the shipping threw the front of 
their columns into confusion. Two standards were, notwith- 
standing, planted on the British redoubts : after which, it 
became necessary to retreat. Six-hundred of the French, 
and upwards of two-hundred of the Americans, were killed 
or wounded. D'Estaign and count Pulaski were wounded j 
the latter, mortally. The force of the garrison was between 
two and three-thousand. Their loss was trifling ; as they 
fired from behind a cover, and few of the assailants return- 
ed a shot. 

A few hours before this attack was made, a council of 
war had been held by the assailants, the determinations of 
which became known to a spy, who had the address to 
stand as sentinel at the entrance of the tent where the offi- 
cers were deliberating ; and, escaping in the dark, convey- 
ed their intention to the British. 

The siege being raised, D'Estaign re-embarked his 
troops; the continentals retreated over the Savannah river; 
and the militia again returned to their plantations. The 
presence of the French admiral in the American waters 
was not, however, without benefit to the republican interest. 
It caused a useful diversion of the royal troops, and the 
garrison of Rhode Island was accordingly withdrawn, on 
Ihe 15th of October, into New York. 

Whilst the faj:e of Savannah was pending, an enterprise 



THE UNITED STATES. 155 

was effected by colonel John White, of the Georgia militia; 
which, for extraordinary success, cannot, it is conceived, 
be paralleled in the annals of military achievements. Cap- 
tain French had been stationed, with about one-hundred 
British soldiers, near the river Ogechee. There were also 
at the same place forty sailors, on board of five English ves- 
sels ; four of which were armed. All these men, together 
with the vessels, were surrendered to colonel White, cap- 
tain Elholm, and four others; one of whom was the colonel's 
servant. On the preceding night, this small party had 
kindled a number of fires, and adopted the parade of a large 
encampment; by which, and a variety of other stratagems, 
the British officer, impressed with an opinion that nothing 
but immediate submission, in conformity with a perempto- 
ry summons, could save his men from being cut to pieces 
by a superior force, yielded, without making any resistance. 
Although the campaign which has been here concluded, 
affords several instances of distinguished vigour, yet, on the 
whole, it is remarkable for the general lethargy of the Ame- 
ricans. Causes which had previously excited their energy, 
had, in a great measure, lost their influence. In the be- 
ginning of the war, enthusiasm for liberty made them in- 
different as to the most valuable property, and fearless of 
the greatest dangers. Their successes had gained them 
allies, and their allies had inspired confidence. The brisk 
circulation of a large quantity of paper money, had caused 
both activity and decision. Every fear of a happy termi- 
nation of the contest, was, by these means, banished, and 
every past misfortune unlamented. But, the failure of each 
succeeding scheme of co-operation with the French, pro- 
duced despondency amongst the troops ; the depreciation 
of the paper money created stagnation in the pursuits of 
commerce ; and it was, for a time, doubtful, whether the 
Americans were to be independent citizens or conquered 
subjects.* 

* The depreciation of the continental money, the manner of redeem- 
ing which, can never be considered by an honest mind, witliout feel- 
ings of deep regret, began ai different pei-iods \n the different states; 
but, in general, about the middle of 1777: two years after its first 
appearance. Towards the end of that year, the depreciation was 
about two or three for one. In 1778, it increased to six, and, in the 
following year, to twenty-eight, for one. In 1780, when it amounted 
to two-hundred-millions, to fifty or sixty for one of silver ; after v hich 
period, its circulation was only partial; but, where it did pass, it 
soon fell to one-hundred-and-fifty for one. In a few places, it continu- 



156 HISTORY OF 

No sooner was the departure of the French fleet from 
Savannah known to the British in New York, than sir Hen- 
ry Clinton, assigning the command of the royal army in this 
city to general Kniphausen, embarked for the south, with 
seventeen regiments of foot, two-hundred-and-tifty cavalry, 
and a powerful detachment of battering and field guns. 
After a tedious and dangerous passage, in which, most of 
.^ the artillery and all the cavalry horses were lost, 
the troops effected a landing, on the 4th of February, 
about thirty miles from Charleston ; took possession of 
John's Island and Stono-ferry, James' Island and Wappoo- 
Cut; and having thrown a bridge over a canal, part of their 
number took post on the banks of Ashley river, opposite to 
Charleston. 

The governor of the state immediately summoned the 
militia : but, though the necessity was great, few obeyed 
the pressing call. He did not, however, neglect any means 
calculated to induce their assembling. When the love of 
country was insufficient to promote resistance to the com- 
mon enemy, he appealed to another passion ; which, in the 
absence of the former, is seldom found inactive. Under his 
extraordinary powers, he issued a proclamation, requiring 
those in the country who had been regularly enrolled, and 
all the inhabitants of Charleston capable of bearing arms, 
to join the American standard, under pain of confiscation. 
Still, however, their brethren in the capital received only 
trifling aid from the people of the interior. 

Sir Henry Clinton, after being reinforced from the gar- 
rison of Savannah, made arrangements for commencing the 
siege. He formed a depot, and erected fortifications, on 
James' Island, as well as on the main land, opposite to the 
southern and western extremities of the city, and sent 
across the Ashley an advanced party ; who, on the first of 
April, broke ground at the distance of eleven-hundred 
yards from the American works. At successive periods, 
he erected five batteries on Charleston Neck; and, alto- 
gether, conducted his approach on a scale of magnitude 
seldom witnessed before a town, which, notwithstanding 
the assiduity of the garrison, had no other defences than 



ed in circulation for the first four or five months of 1781; but, at this 
time, many would not take ir at any price ; and they who did, receiv- 
ed it at the rate of seveiul hundreds for one. Besides that immense 
sum, the paper bills of 'he individual states amounted to many mil- 
lions ; which added still farther to its depreciation. 



THE UNITED STATES. 157 

common fiekUworks. The British marine force, consist- 
ing of eight large and small frigates, carrying in all two- 
hundred-and-eighty gmis, crossed the bar, and anchored 
in Five-Fathom Hole. The American fleet, composed of 
nine ships, under commodore Whipple, mounting only 
two-hundred-and-twenty guns, was not thought equal to 
engage the enemy, and therefore fell back to the city ; 
where, the commodore landed his men and guns, to rein- 
force the batteries. On the 9th of April, the British ad- 
miral passed all the forts in the harbour; after which, colo- 
nel Pinckney, and a part of the men under his command, 
were withdrawn from Sullivan's Island into Charleston. 
Fort Moultrie surrendered on the 6th of May. On the 
same day, the remains of the American cavalry, which had 
escaped from a late surprise at Monk's Corner, were again 
surprised, by Colonel Tarleton, at Laneau's ferry, on the 
Santee ; when the whole v\^ere either killed or captured, or 
dispersed ; and the British thus gained entire command of 
the Cooper river. Their batteries of the third parallel 
were opened. Shells were thrown into almost every quar- 
ter of the town, and several houses were burned. The can- 
non played at a less distance than a hundred yards. The 
Hessian chasseurs were so near the American lines, that 
they could easily strike any object on them with their rifles. 
The British crossed the wet ditch by sap, advanced within 
twenty-five yards of the works, and were ready for making 
a general assault, by land and water. AH expectation of 
succour was at an end. The only remaining hope was, 
that nine-thousand men, the flower of the British army, 
supported by a naval force, might f-iil in storming exten- 
sive lines, defended by less than three-thousand. The pe- 
riod was awful. Perseverance might provoke revenge, but 
could not ensure succerss. On the 1 Ith of May, a number 
of the citizens addressed general Lincoln ; declaring their ' 
acquiescence in the terms of surrender which the besiegers 
had some time before offered, and urging him to accept 
them. The general v/rote, accordingly, to Sir Henry Clinton; 
who, wishing to avoid the extremity of entering the town by 
storm, and unw-illing, notwithstanding his subsequent pro- 
gress, to press the unconditional surrender of an enemy 
whose friendship he wished to conciliate, returned a favour- 
able answer. A capitulation v/as signed on the 12t]i; and, 
on the next day, the British took possession of the city. 
By this agreement, the garrison were to march out of the 
town, and deposit their arms in fror^t of the works : but 
14 



158 HISTORY OF 

their drums were not to beat a British march, nor their 
colours to be uncased. The continental troops and seamen 
were to keep their bag-gage, and remain prisoners of war 
imtil exchanged. The militia were allowed to return home, 
as prisoners on parole ; and the inhabitants of the town 
were placed in the same situation. 

The number that surrendered, including every adult 
male inhabitant, was five-thousand ; but the proper garri- 
son did not exceed twenty-five-hundred. The artillery 
amounted to four-hundred. The loss on both sides, during 
the siege, was nearly equal: of the Americans, eighty-nine 
were killed, and one-hundred-and-forty wounded ; of the 
royal army, seventy-six were killed, and one-hundred-and- 
eighty-nine wounded. 

After the fall of Charleston, the Alliance and Deane 
frigates were the only remnant of the American navy. 
These were soon afterwards sold, the navy-boards dissolved, 
and all maritime adventures ceased, except by the armed 
vessels of individuals. 

The next object with the British, was to secure the gen- 
eral submission of the state. To this end, they posted gar- 
risons in different parts of the country, and sent two-thou- 
sand men towards North Carolina. Colonel Tarleton ad- 
vanced rapidly, with about seven-hundred horse, in pursuit 
of three or four-hundred infantry, and a few cavalry, who 
were retreating under colonel Buford ; and, having over- 
taken them at the Waxhaws, brought them to an action : 
in which, though the Americans had, in the very begin- 
ning, sued for quarter, the greater part of their number 
were either killed, or so cruelly mangled as to be incapable 
of being removed from the field of battle. 

Early in June, Sir Henry Clinton, leaving about four- 
thousand men for the southern service, embarked, with the 
main army, for New York. On his departure, the command 
devolved on lord Cornwallis ; who, having committed the 
care of the frontier to lord Rawdon, (afterAvards entitled 
earl of Moira, and now the marquis of Hastings,) repaired 
to Charleston; where he devoted his principal attention to 
the civil regulations of the state. In the meantime, the 
impossibility of removing with their families and property, 
and the want of an army, around whose standard they might 
repair, induced the people, except in the extremities of the 
provmce bordering on North Carolina, to relinquish all 
schemes ^ farther resistance.. This was followed by an 



THE UNITED STATES. 159, 

unusual calm ; which induced the British to suppose that, 
the state was entirely conquered. 

As the enemy advanced to the upper districts, a consid- 
erable number of patriots retreated before them, and took 
refuge in North Carolina. Amongst these, was colonel 
Sumpter; a distinguished individual, whom a party of exiles 
had selected as their leader. They had no pay, no uniforms, 
nor any certain means of subsistence : they lived upon what 
chance, or their own courage, provided them. They ex- 
perienced even a want of arms and ammunition ; but they 
made themselves rude weapons from the instruments of 
husbandry ; and instead of balls of lead, they cast them of 
pewter, from the dishes which the patriots gave them for 
that purpose. But these resources were far from being 
sufficient. They several times encountered the enemy 
with only three charges of ammunition to each man ; and 
some, who vv^ere without arms, remained aside, waiting un- 
til the death or wounds of their companions permitted them 
to take their place. Having, at the head of this little band 
of freemen, returned to his own state, he took the field 
against the victorious invaders ; and, on the 12th of July, 
two months after the fall of Charleston, routed a detach- 
ment posted in a lane at Williamson's plantation ; the first 
effort of renewed warfare, and the first advantage eained 
over the British, since their landing in the beginning of the 
year. His troops, which were, at this time, only one-hun- 
dred, increased, in a few days, to six-hundred. With these, 
he made a spirited attack on a party at Rocky Mount: but, 
as he had no artillery, and the enemy were secured behind 
a breast-work, he was obliged to retreat. His next enter- 
prise more than compensated for this disappointment. Hav- 
ing attacked another detachment, consisting of a small Brit- 
ish regiment and a large body of royalists, posted at Hang- 
ing-Rock, he almost totally destroyed the former, and dis- 
persed the latter, who had advanced from North Carolina, 
under colonel Bryan. This achievement was of^ most im- 
portant advantage. The panic, occasioned by the fall of 
Charleston, daily abated. The whig militia, on the extrem- 
ities of the state, formed themselves into parties, under 
leaders of their own choice, and harassed the royal army 
with continual disturbance. 

While Sumpter kept up the spirits of the people, by a 
succession of gallant enterprises, a respectable continental 
force was advancing through the middle states to their re- 
lief. These, consisting of the Maryland and Delaware 



160 HISTORY OF 

troops, under general Gates, reached Clermont, thirteen 
miles from Camden, about the middle of August ; after 
escaping imminent danger of destruction, from the heat of 
the season, the unhealthy climate, and insufficiency of food; 
in passing many hundred miles, through pine-barrens, 
swamps, and sand-hills. 

As those indefatigable Americans were approaching, lord 
Rawdon concentrated his forces at Camden. Encouraged 
by these favourable events, — the retreat of the enemy from 
their out-posls, and the appearance of their friends; the citi- 
zens of Carolina, impatient of insolence, rapine, and sub- 
jection, rejoiced in the prospect of freeing their country 
from its oppressors. Gates displayed the utmost energy 
and wisdom in fostering the growing spirit. His measures 
were followed by a general revolt; and his strength, increas- 
ed by the arrival of some Virginia militia, led by general 
Stephens, promised a durable emancipation. His army was 
nearly four-thousand men; of whom, however, only a fourth 
were regulars. On the approach of Gates, lord Cornwallis 
hastened from Charleston to Camden; where he arrived on 
the 14th of August. His force did not exceed two-thou- 
sand ; an inferiority which would have justified a retreat : 
but, choosing rather to stake his fortune on the decision of 
^xx jmroediate battle, he marched from Camden on the fol- 
lowing night ; intending to attack the Americans in their 
camp at Clermont. Gates, also, having moved forward, 
that he might secure an advantageous position, their ad- 
vanced parties met in the night, and engaged. The Ameri- 
can cavalry recoiled at the first fire, and threw the wholo 
line of the main body into confusion. But they soon re- 
covered their order, and both armies skirmished until morn- 
ing. When the day broke, the engagement became gene- 
ral. The Americans suffered a heavy loss. At the first 
onset, nearly ail the Virginia militia, on being charged with 
bayonets, threw down their arms, and fled ; and a consider- 
able part of the North Carolina militia followed the unwor- 
thy example. But the regular troops of Maryland and 
Delaware, commanded by a German officer, baron de Kalb, 
bravely maintained their ground, until overpowered by 
numbers, and almost surrounded. The British took two- 
hundred-and-ninety wounded prisoners; of whom, two-hun- 
dred were continentals, eighty were North Carolina, and 
two Virginia militia; together with the whole of the Ameri- 
can artillery, two-hundred wagons, and the greater part of 
the baggage. General Gregory, who commanded that 



THE UNITED STATES. 161 

portion of the North Carolma militia which continued in 
activon, was twice wounded by a bayonet. Baron de Kalb, 
the second in command under general Gates, was taken 
prisoner by Tarleton's cavalry, and died, on the next day, 
of his wounds. His merit was not neglected by his Trans- 
atlantic friends. Congress resolved that a monument, with 
a very l\onourable inscription, should be erected to his 
memory, at Annapolis. 

To embitter the distressing situation of the Americans, 
the defeat of Gates was followed by the surprise and disper- 
sion of Sumpter's corps. Sumpter, now promoted to the 
rank of brigadier-general, after taking a number of prison- 
ers, and depriving the British of some stores, had found it 
expedient, on learning die misfortune which had befallen 
his superior, to retreat ; when, his party, overcome by fa- 
tigue, and unable to observe even the usual caution in 
guarding against surprise, were attacked at Fishhig-creek; 
and all that were not killed or captured, were dispersed. 

South Carolina seemed a second time subdued. Those 
who had nobly entered the field of battle, were scattered or 
imprisoned ; or had fallen, never again to aid in rescuing 
their country. Some, whose professions, or imbecilities, 
had prevented them from becoming soldiers, but whose 
firmness on the side of liberty made them, even when at 
home, dangerous enemies to the invaders, were banished 
from the state; many submitted to the victors through ne- 
cessity, and others through inclination. The mischievous 
efiects of human slavery now became apparent. As the 
slaves had no interest in their own persons, a change of 
masters was to them no misfortune ; and, as they had no 
interest in the state, its subjugation was a matter of tri- 
umph. 

After the defeat of general Gates, the miserable remnant 
of his army, which had rendezvoused at Charlotte, retreat- 
ed to Salisbury, and from Salisbury to Hillsborough. There 
was no anny to oppose lord Cornwallis. But, what was 
wanting in the strength of one party, was in a great measure 
supplied by the weakness of the other. Unaccustomed to 
the noxious air of a Carolina summer, sickness restrained 
the weapons which could not be opposed, and checked the 
British soldiers in tlieir pursuit of conquest. 

About the time when Sumpter was rewarded with the 

rank of general, another partisan was advanced to the same 

rank. This was Marion; an officer much celebrated in the 

annals of his country. For several weeks he hud under his 

14* 



162 HISTORY OF 

command only seventy men ; at one time, no more than 
twenty-five. Yet, with this little band, he kept the field 
amidst surrounding foes, and harassed the quarters of the 
royal army by unremitting sallies. With only thirty com- 
panions, he surprised and captured in the night a party of 
ninety British soldiers, on their march to Charleston with 
tvv'o-hundrcd American prisoners. But open resistance to 
British government was not confined to those. There wa?*, 
without any apparent design, a powerful combination of 
several commanders of the adjacent states. Colonel Camp- 
bell, of Virginia ; colonels Cleveland, Shelby, Sevier, and 
M'Dowell, of North Carolina; together with colonels Lacey, 
Hawthorn, and Hill, of South Carolina ; assembled with 
sixteen-hundred men : though they were under no general 
command, and were not called upon by any authority what- 
ever. They had so little of the mechanism of a regular- 
army, that the colonels, by mutual consent, commanded, 
each in rotation, for a day. The hardships suftered by these 
volunteers were great. At night, the earth afforded them 
a bed, and t.^e limbs of trees were their only covering. 
Ears of corn or pompions, thrown into the fire, with occa- 
sional supplies of beef or venison, killed and roasted in the 
vv'oods, were the chief articles of their provision. The run- 
ning stream quenched their thirst : they had neither spiritu- 
ous liquors nor stores of any kind. 

A particular instance of deprivation deserves recording. 
A British officer, having been sent from Georgetown to ne- 
gotiate an exchange of prisoners, was conducted, after the 
usual ceremony of blindfolding, into Marion's encampment. 
Vv'hen the business was concluded, the officer took up his 
bat to retire. — " Oh, no l" saici iVIarion, " it is now about our 
time of dining ; and I hope, sir, you will give us the pleas- 
ure of your company to dinner." — On mention of the word 
dinner^ the British officer looked around him ; but, to his 
great mortification, could see neither pot nor pan, nor any 
other utensil that could raise the spirits of a hungry man. 
— '' Come, Tom," said the general, to one of his men, 
*< give us our dinner." — The dinner, to which he alluded, 
was no other than a few sweet potatoes roasting under the 
embers, and which, Tom, with his pine-stick poker, soon 
drew from their concealment ; pinching them, every now 
and then, with his fingers, especially the large ones, to 
know were they sufficiently roasted : then, having cleansed 
them from the ashes, partly by blowing them with his 
breath, and partly by brushing them with the sleeve of his 



THE UNITED STATES. 163 

«>ld cotton shirt, he piled some of the best on a large piece 
of bark, and placed them between the British officer and 
Marion, on the trunk of a fallen pine, on which they sat. — 
'»> I fear, sir," said the general, "our dinner will not prove so 
palatable as I could wish ; but it is the best we have." — 
The officer, v^ho was a well-bred man, took up one of the 
potatoes, affecting to eat it, as if he had found a great dain- 
ty : but presently, he broke out into a hearty laugh. Mari- 
on looked surprised. — ^^ 1 beg pardon, general," said the 
other; " I was only thinking, how droUy some of my brother 
officers would look, if our government were to give them 
such a bill of fare as this !" — " I suppose," replied Marion, 
" it is not equal to their style of dining." — " No, indeed," said 
the officer ; " but this, I imagine, is one of your accidental 
lent dinners : in general, no doubt, you live much better."— 
" Rather worse," rejoined the American ; " for often we 
don't get enough of this." — " But, though stinted in /iro- 
-vi&ioTis^ you draw noble fiay." — " Not a cent, sir," replied 
Marion — " not a cent." — • 

On his return to Georgetown, he was asxvcd by colonel 
Watson, why he looked so serious. — " I have cause, sir," 
replied he, " to look serious." — " Has Marion refused to 
treat ?" — " No sir." — " Has Washington defeated sir Henry 
Clinton?" — " No, sir, not that neither; out worse. I have 
seen an American general and his officers, without pay, 
and almost without clothes, dining on roots, and drinking 
w^ater, and all these privations undergone for Liberty. 
What chance have we against such men ! 

Colonel Watson was little animated by this discoveiy ; 
and the young officer was so affected by Marion's senti- 
ments, that he resigned his commission and retired from 
tlie service. 

Having selected about a thousand of their best men, col- 
onel Campbell and his associate leaders mounted them on 
their fleetest horses ; and, on the 7th of October, attacked 
major Ferguson, a British officer who had collected a corps 
of royal militia, on the top of King's Mountain, near the 
confines of North and South Carolina. The Americans 
formed three parties. Colonel Cleveland addressed his 
division in the follov/ing unvarnished, though energetic, 
language: " My brave fellows, we have beaten the tories, 
and we can again beat them. They are all cowards. If 
they had the spirit of men, they would join their fellow-cit- 
izens, in supporting the independence of their country. 
When engaged, you are not to wait the word of command 



164 HISTORY OF 

from me. I will show you, by my example, how to fight. 
I can undertake no more. Every man must consider him- 
self as an officer, and act from his own judgment. Fire as 
quick as you can, and stand as long as you can. When you 
can do no better, get behind trees, or retreat. But I beg 
you will not run quite off. If we be reptilsed, let us make 
a point to return, and renew the fight. Perhaps, we may 
have better luck in the second attempt, than in the first. 
If any be afraid, such have leave to retire ; and they are re- 
quested immediately to take themselves off." 

Ferguson boldly met the assailants with fixed bayonets, 
and compelled them successively to retreat : but they fell 
back only a short distance ; and, concealed amongst trees 
and rocks, renewed the fire. The British being uncovered, 
were aimed at by the marksmen, and many of their party 
were slain. After a severe battle, major Ferguson, who had 
displayed the utmost bravery, received a mortal wound ; 
and as there was no prospect of successful resistance, or of 
escape, the contest was ended by his submission. Upwards 
of eight-hundred became prisoners, and two-hundred were 
killed and wounded. An unusual number of the killed 
were found shot in the head. Riflemen brought down each 
Qther, so effectually, that their eyes remained, after they 
were dead, one shut and the other open ; in the ordinary 
manner of marksmen when leveling at their object. 

During the first three months which followed the defeat 
of the American army near Camden, general Gates was 
industriously preparing to take the field. Having collect- 
ed a force at Hillsborough, he advanced to Salisbury, and, 
soon afterwards, to Charlotte. He had done every thing 
in his power to repair the injuries of his defeat, and was 
again in a condition to meet the enemy : but, from the in- 
fluence, which, in a commonwealth, popular opinion has 
over public measures, congress resolved to supersede him, 
and order an examination of his conduct. 

In the northern states, the campaign was barren of im- 
portant events. The only movement, worthy of attention, 
was made by general Kniphausen, from New York ; intend- 
ed rather for devastation than conquest. From Elizabeth- 
town, in Nev/ Jersey, this officer proceeded, in June, to 
Connecticut farms: where, besides a number of dwelling 
houses, he burned the Presbyterian church, and then con- 
tinued his progress towards Springfield. As he advanced, 
he was annoyed by colonel Dayton, with a few militia, and 
by general Maxwell j who, with some continental troops. 



THE UNITED STATES. 165 

was stationed at a bridge to dispute his passage. Here, 
the British made a halt ; and soon afterwards returned to 
Elizabethtown : but, being reinforced, they advanced, a 
second time, towards Springfield. They w^ere now oppos- 
ed by general Greene, with a considerable body of regulars 
from the head quarters of the northern army at Morris- 
town. But superior numbers compelled the Americans to 
retreat. The British, instead of improving their advan- 
tage, began to burn the town of Springfield ; and, after 
destroying about fifty houses, again retired : with the en- 
raged militia in their rear, until they reached Elizabeth- 
town. By such desultory operations, were hostilites, at 
this time, carried on, in the northern states. Individuals 
were killed, houses were burned, much injury was done, 
but nothing efiected, tending either to reconcilement or 
subjugation. 

The distress suffered by the American army, did not ar- 
rive at its highest pitch until the present season. The of- 
ficers of the Jersey line, now addressed a memorial to their 
state legislature, complaining, that four months' pay of a 
private would not procure for his family a single bushel of 
wheat : that the pay of a colonel would not purchase oats 
for his horse ; and that a common labourer received four 
times as much as an American officer. They urged, that 
unless an immediate remedy were provided, the total dis- 
solution of their line was inevitable ; and concluded, by 
saying, that their pay should be realized, either by Mexi- 
can dollars, or something equivalent. Nor was the insuffi- 
ciency of their support the only motive to complaint. Other 
causes of discontent prevailed. The original idea of a 
continental army, to be raised, paid, and regulated, upon 
an equal and uniform principle, had been, in a great meas- 
ure, exchanged, for that of state establishments; a perni- 
cious measure, partly originating from necessity, because, 
state credit was not quite so much depreciated as conti- 
nental. Some states, from their superior ability, furnished 
their troops, not only with clothing, but with many articles 
of convenience. Others supplied them with mere neces- 
saries ; whilst a few, from their particular situation, could 
give little, or perhaps nothing. The officers and men, in 
the routine of duty, daily intermixed and made compar- 
isons. Those who fared worse than others, were dissatisfi- 
ed with a service that allowed sucli injurious distinctions. 
Mutiny began to spread, and at length broke out amongst 
the soldiers at fort Schuyler. Thirty-one privates of that 



166 HISTORY OF 

garrison went off in a body. They were overtaken, and 
thirteen of their number instantly killed. About the same 
time, two regiments of Connecticut troops mutinied, and 
got under arms; determined to return home, or gain sub- 
sistence by the bayonet. Their officers reasoned with them, 
and used every argument that could interest their passions 
or their pride. They at first answered, " Our sufferings 
are too great — v/e want present relief." But military feel- 
ings Avere, in the end, triumphant : after much expostula- 
tion, they went back to the encampment. 

It is natural to suppose, that the British commander 
would not lose so favourable an opportunity of severing the 
discontented from their companions, and attracting them 
to his own standard. He circulated a printed paper in the 
American camp ; tending to heighten the disorder by ex- 
aggeration, and create desertion by promises of bounty and 
caresses. But, so great was the firmness of the soldiery, 
and so strong their attachment to their country, that, on 
the arrival of only a scanty supply of meat, for their imme- 
diate subsistence, military duty was cheerfully performed, 
'and the rolls were seldom dishonoured by desertion. 

The necessities of the American army grew so pressing, 
that Washington was constrained to call on the magistrates 
of the adjacent counties for specified quantities of provis- 
ions, to be supplied in a given number of days ; and, at 
other times, was compelled to send out detachments, to 
bring away subsistence at the point of the bayonet. Even 
this expedient at length failed ; the country, in the vicinity 
of the army, being soon exhausted. His situation was pain- 
fully embarrassing. The army looked to him for provis- 
ions ; the inhabitants, for protection. To supply the one, 
and not offend the other, seemed impossible. To preserve 
order and subordination, in an army of republicans, even 
when well fed, regularly paid, and comfortably clothed, is 
not an easy task; but, to retain them in service, and sub- 
ject them to the rules of discipline, when wanting, not only 
the comforts, but often the necessaries, of life, require such 
address and abilities, as are rarely found in human nature. 
These were, however, combined in Washington. He not 
only kept his army in the field, but opposed those difficult- 
ies with so much discretion, as to command the approba- 
tion both of the soldiers and the people. 

To obviate these evils, congress sent a committeeof their 
own members to the encampment of their main army. 
They confirmed the representations previously made, of 



THE UNITED STATES. l67 

the distresses, and the disorders arisins^ from commissarial 
mismanagement, which every where prevailed. In par- 
ticular, they stated, that the army was unpaid for five 
months ; that it seldom had more than six days' provision 
in advance ; and was, on different occasions, for several suc- 
cessive days, without meat ; that the horses were destitute 
of forage ; that the medical department had not any sugar, 
tea, chocolate, wine, nor spirituous liquors of any kind ; 
that every department was without money, and without 
credit ; and that the patience of the soldiers, worn down 
by the pressure of complicated sufferings, was on the point 
of being exhausted. 

Misfortunes, from every quarter, Avere, at this time, pour- 
ing in upon the United States. But they seemed to rise 
in the midst of their distresses, and gain strength from the 
pressure of calamities. When congress could obtain neither 
money nor credit for the subsistence of their army, the in- 
habitants of Philadelphia gave three-hundred-thousand dol- 
lars, to procure a supply of necessary provisions for the 
suffering troops : and the ladies of that city, at the same 
time, contributed largely to their immediate relief. Their 
example was very generally followed. The patriotic flame, 
which blazed forth in the beginning of the war, was rekind- 
led. The different states were ardently excited ; and it was 
arranged, that the regular army should be raised to thirty- 
five-thousand effective men. 

France, too, about the same time, determined to augment 
her co-operation. The marquis La Fayette had gone over, 
for a short time, to that country, and successfully urged 
the government to enlarge its aid. On the lOth of July, 
admiral de Ternay arrived at Rhode Island, with a squad- 
ron of seven sail of the line, five frigates, and five smaller 
armed vessels ; besides, a fleet of transports, having on 
board six-thousand men, under the command of general 
count de Rochambeau. 

United both in interest and affection with the Ameri- 
cans, the French troops eagerly desired an opportunity to 
act with them against the common enemy. Only a short 
time, however, was allowed for the indulgence of these sen- 
timents, before the French fleet and army were blocked 
up at Rhode Island, by admiral Arbuthnot, with ten sail of 
the line. Hopes were, nevertheless, indulged, that, by the 
arrival of another fleet, then in the West Indies, under the 
command of count de Guichen, the superiority would be so 
much in favour of the allies, as to enable them to prose- 



168 HISTORY OF 

cute their original design of attacking New York. But, 
when the expectations of the Americans were raised to the 
highest pitch, intelligence arrived that de Guichen had 
sailed for France. This disappointment was extremely 
mortifying. Their pleasing anticipations were suddenly 
extinguished, and deeper shades were added to the heavy 
cloud, vk'hich, for some time past, had hung over their af- 
fairs. 

Whilst the American cause was thus openly menaced 
by defeat and disappointment, it was secretly assailed by 
the ruinous hand of domestic treachery. A distinguished 
officer engaged, for a stipulated sum of money, to betray 
into the hands of the British an important post. The per- 
son who committed this foul crime, was general Arnold, of 
Connecticut ; a man who had been amongst the first to 
take up arms against (ireat Britain, and to widen the breach 
between the parent state and the colonies. His conspicu- 
ous military talents had procured him every honour that a 
grateful nation could bestow. Poets and painters had mark- 
ed him as a rich subject for their labours. His country 
had not only loaded him with honours, but forgiven him his 
improprieties. Though, in his army accounts, there v/as 
much room to suspect imposition, yet the recollection of 
his gallantry and good conduct in the field, had in a great 
measure, consigned them to oblivion. But the generosity 
of the states did not keep pace with his extravagance. A 
sumptuous table and expensive equipage, unsupported by 
the resources of private fortune, and unaided by economy, 
soon increased his debts, beyond a possibility of his dis- 
charging them. Oppression, extortion, and misapplication 
of the public money, furnished him with the means of grati- 
fying his ruling passions: treachery and ingratitude afford- 
ed the only hope of evading a scrutiny, and replenishing 
his exhausted coffers. He solicited for the command of 
West Point ; called the Gibraltar of America ; a post 
strengthened for the defence of the North river, and deem- 
ed the most proper for commanding its navigation. Rocky 
ridges, shelving one above another, rendered it incapable 
of being invested by less than twenty-thousand men. Some, 
even then, entertained doubts of Arnold's fidelity. But 
Washington, in the unsuspecting spirit of a soldier, grant- 
ed his request, and intrusted him with the important bar- 
rier. Thus invested with the command, Arnold began a 
correspondence with Sir Henry Clinton; and agreed, that 
the former should make a disposition of his forces, which 



THE UNITED STATES. 169 

would enable the British general to surprise West Point ; 
un^er such circumstances, that the garrison must either 
lay down their arms, or be cut to pieces. The agent em- 
ployed in this serious business, on the part of Sir Henry 
Clinton, was major Andre, adjutant-general of the British 
army ; a young officer of great hopes and uncommon merit. 
His fidelity pointed him out for this negotiation ; but his 
candour made him inexpert in those arts of deception 
which it required. When returning from a conference 
with Arnold, devested of his uniform, he was intercepted 
on the 22d of September, near Tarrytown, by three faithful 
militia soldiers, John Paulding, Isaac Van Wert, and David 
Williams ; and by the laws of war, forfeited his life to a 
.country struggling with an accumulation of disasters, and 
constrained to guard, by the most vigilant attention, against 
the destructive agency of treason. 

The exchange of one of their best officers for the worst 
man in the American army, was the only effect of this 
grand project of the enemy. Arnold, who, on the capture 
of major Andre, had escaped, was immediately appointed 
a brigadier-general in the service of Great Britain. But, 
though his new companions had wished to4)rofit by the 
treason, they viewed the traitor with contempt. " What 
treatment," inquired Arnold from a British officer, " am 
I to expect, should the x'ebels make me their prisoner ?'* — 
*' They will cut off," replied the officer, "the leg that was 
wounded at Saratoga, and bury it, with all the honours of 
war ; but, having no respect for the rest of your body, they 
will hang it on a gibbet."* 

It is a subject of reproach to the United States, that 
they brought into public view a man of Arnold's character: 
but it is honourable to human nature, that a great revolu- 
tion, continued through an eight years' war, produced only 
one such example. His singular case, however, enforces 
the policy, indeed the moral obligation, of conferring high 
trust, exclusively, on men of unspotted reputation ; and of 
withholding all confidential situations from those who are 
under the dominion of expensive pleasure. 

France was not the only nation that felt an interest in the 
colonial war. Spain did not suffer the favourable juncture 
to elapse, without attempting to regain at least a part of 
her former losses in the western hemisphere. The sum- 
mer in which Louis had declared his friendship for the 

• General Arnold died in London, in 1801. 
1 5 



170 HI^'ORY OF 

United States, had scarcely commenced, when the Spanish 
monarch, on some general pretences, announced hostilities 
against Britain ; and directed his governor of Louisiana 
to invade her settlements in East and West Florida ; an 
enterprise attended with complete success. But he was 
not so fortunate in the designs of recovering Gibraltar and 
Jamaica. By the vigilance of admirals Rodney and Darby, 
general Elliot, having received a supply of provisions for 
the starving garrison of Gibraltar, was enabled, by extraor- 
dinary exertions, to frustrate the Spaniards, in their mem- 
orable siege of that great fortress ; and the superior sea- 
manship of Rodney having produced the defeat and cap- 
ture of admiral De Grasse, in the West Indies, there no 
longer existed any fear for the safety of Jamaica. 

These alDortive plans operated severely against the Unit- 
ed States ; especially the latter misfortune : which, as al- 
ready noticed, prevented the co-operation of count de 
Guichen with admiral de Ternay, when the latter was 
blocked up by the English, at Rhode Island, But this was, 
in a short time, counterbalanced, by the opposition made 
to Great Britain through the armed neutrality of the north- 
ern powers, and a rupture between that country and the 
Dutch. 

The naval superiority of England had, for ages, been to 
the other European states a subject of envy and regret. 
The imperious claim which she had long exacted, that the 
flags of all nations should pay obeisance to her ships of 
war, could not be otherwise than mortifying to independent 
sovereigns. This, howxver, was not their only subject of 
complaint. Various litigations had arisen, between the 
commanders of British armed vessels and those in the ser- 
vice of neutral countries, as to the extent of the commerce 
allowable during a strict and fair neutrality. The British 
insisted on capturing all supplies intended for their enemies. 
The empress of Russia opposed this innovation ; which, 
power, not right, had prompted them so injuriously to prac- 
tise. She addressed a manifesto to the courts of London, 
Versailles, and Madrid ; the three European belligerants : 
wherein she maintained. That neutral ships should enjoy a 
free navigation,, even from port to port of the nations at 
"war, and on their coasts ; and that all articles belonging to 
the contending parties, should, when on board those vessels, 
be free from capture ; excepting warlike stores, and goods 
destined for places actually blockaded or besieged. These 
principles were communicated by Catharine to the Dutch 



THE UNITED STATES. Ifl 

republic, and to the sovereigns of Denmark, Sweden, and 
Portugal ; from all of whom, except the latter, a concur- 
rence in opinion was received. Thus, the usurped authori- 
ty of Great Britain was checked ; a restraint the more em- 
barrassing, as it emanated from a power in whose friend- 
ship she had confided. 

Holland, it appears, required not the stimulating hand 
of Russia, to array her against a nation, which, in the pre- 
ceding century, in violation of an ancient treaty, had sur- 
prised her colonies, and made extensive inroads on her com- 
merce. Few European states had a brighter prospect of 
advantage from American independence: none was more 
acute in discerning, none more ready in discovering, the 
means of promoting, the profit of her merchants. Com- 
plaints had been made by the court of London, respecting 
the illicit commerce alleged to be carrying on between the 
Dutch at St. Eustatia and the Americans ; and succours 
were demanded by the former, agreeably with a compact 
formed in the reign of Charles the Second. But the event 
which occasioned a declaration of war, was the capture of 
Mr. Laurens, when on his passage to Holland, in order to 
negotiate a loan and a treaty on the part of the United 
States. Papers being found with the American minister, 
confirming the British in their suspicions of the hostile in- 
tention of the Dutch republic, the English ambassador re- 
ceived instruction from his government to depart from the 
Hague ; and war against that country was soon afterwards 
published in London. The gathering storm of British ven- 
geance burst forth on St. Eustatia ; an island of small 
value in itself, but highly important as the seat of an ex- 
tensive commerce. The w^calth then concentrated in this 
barren spot, is almost incredible. The whole island seem- 
ed to be one vast magazine : the store-houses were filled, 
the beach was covered, with valuable commodities. The 
amount of three-millions sterling fell into the hands of the 
British captors ; a booty still farther increased by subse- 
quent arrivals. Yet the public interest of Britain was ' 
deeply injured by the prize. Whilst admiral Rodney and 
his officers were bewildered in the sales of confiscated pro- 
perty at St. Eustatia ; and, especially, whilst his fleet was 
weakened ]jy a large detachment, sent with the produce of 
the sales to England ; the French were silently executing 
a scheme, which insured them a superiority on the Ameri- 
can coast, and caused the total ruin of the British army ia 
tke United States. 



172 HISTORY OF 

Some extraneous aid appeared essential fo sup- 
port the patriots, amidst the numerons misfortunes 
•which assailed them. At no period of the war, were their 
domestic affairs in a more deplorable situation. Famhie, 
mutiny, amongst the Pennsylvania, and part of the New 
Jersey, troops ; as well as a total annihilation of public 
credit; threatened the dissolution of the army, and a mel- 
ancholy termination of all their labours. The American 
general Clinton, in a letter to Washington, dated at Alba- 
ny, about the middle of April, says; " There is not now, 
independent of Fort Schuyler, three days' provisions for the 
troops, in the whole department ; nor any prospect of pro- 
curing any. The recruits of the new levies I cannot re- 
ceive, because I have nothing to give them. The Cana- 
dian families I have been obliged to deprive of their scanty 
pittance ; contrary to every principle of humanity. The 
quarter-rnaster's department is wholly useless. The pub- 
lic armoury has been shut up for nearly three wrecks ; and 
a total suspension of every military operation has ensued." 

These events, however, were not unforeseen by the rulers 
of America. New resources were providentially opened, 
and the war was carried on with the same vigour as before. 
A large amount of gold and silver was introduced, by a 
beneficial trade with the Spanish Vv^est India islands ; and 
the king of France lent the United States several millions 
of iivres, besides pledging his security for a larger sum bor- 
rowed for their use in Holland. A regular system of finance 
also was adopted, under the direction of Robert Morris ; 
who made the different arrangements with great judgment 
and economy. The Bank of North America, at Philadel- 
phia, the oldest monied institution in the United States, this 
year established by a charter from congress, was eminently 
useful in furnishing it with the sinews of war. The issuing 
of paper money under the authority of government was 
discontinued, and the public engagements were made paya- 
ble in coin. The old continental money ceased to have cur- 
rency. Two-hundred-millions of paper dollars were made 
redeemable by five-millions of silver ; a measure submitted 
to without any tumults. Public faith was indeed violated : 
but the money, having, in a great measure, gone out of the 
hands of those who had received it at the original value, it 
was in the possession of others, who had obtained it at the 
rate not exceeding what was fixed by the scale of deprecia- 
tion ; and the redemption of the bills at their nom.inal value, 
instead of remedying the distresses of the sufferers, wouldj 



THE UNITED STATES. 173 

it was thought, m many cases have increased them ; by sub- 
jecting their property to a taxation of greater amount than 
that of the paper which had finally rested in their hands. 

The British were at this time, carrying on the most ex- 
tensive plan of operations attempted since the beginning of 
the war. Hostilities raged, not only in the vicinity of their 
head quarters at New York, but in Georgia, South Caroli- 
na, North Carolina, and Virginia. The industry with which 
the perfidious Arnold lent his aid, under his new commis- 
sion, was calculated to impress the idea of a sincere devo- 
tion to the British cause. His extensive ravages, together 
with his plundering achievements, in Virginia and Connec- 
ticut, made it difficult to judge, whether his recent warfare, 
in the character of incendiary and robber, did not more 
than compensate the enemy for the damage before sustain- 
ed from the arms of his heroic countrymen ; led by himself 
to successive victories, through a desire of fame. 

The good fortune which attended the British troops, 
since they had reduced Savannah and Charleston, encour- 
aged them to pursue their object, by advancing from the 
latter to North Carolina. To relieve the southern states, 
though congress were unable to forward either men or 
money, yet they did what was equivalent. They sent them 
a general, whose military talents were equal to a numerous 
army. The nomination to this important trust was left to 
the commander in chief. He mentioned general Greene, 
as an officer in whose abilities, fortitude, and integrity, from 
a long and intimate acquaintance, he had the most entire 
confidence. 

The same day on which general Greene took charge of 
the army at Charlotteville, he received information of a 
successful enterprise by colonel (late captain) Washington, 
Being out on a foraging excursion, this active officer had 
penetrated within thirteen miles of Camden, to Clermont ; 
the seat of colonel Rugely, of the British militia. This 
was fortified by a block-house, encompassed by an abatis, 
and defended by one-hundred of the inhabitants who had 
submitted to the royal government. Colonel Washington 
advanced before it, mounted the trunk of a pine tree on 
wagon-wheels, so as to resemble a field-piece, and peremp- 
torily demanded a surrender. The stratagem had the de- 
sired effect. Dreading a cannonade, the garrison instantly 
obeyed the summons, without a shot having been fired on 
either side. 

The whole southern army now consisted of about two- 
15* 



174 HISTORY OF 

thousand men ; more than a half of whom were militia, in 
a very relaxed state of discipline. Having divided his force, 
the commander sent general Morgan with a detachment 
into the district of Ninety-six, in the western extremity of 
South Carolina; whilst he himself marched with the main 
"body to Hick's creek, on the north side of the Pedee, op- 
posite to Cheraw Hill. Morgan was not long without em- 
ployment. Lord Cornwallis, being at this time far advanced 
in preparations for invading North Carolina, could not, 
agreeably with the policy of war, leave an enemy in his 
rear; and therefore sent against him colonel Tarleton, at the 
head of about eleven-hundred men. Tarleton had two 
field-pieces, a superiority of infantry, in the proportion of 
five to four, and of cavalry, in the proportion of three to 
one. Under these advantages, he engaged general Morgan 
at the Cowpens, on the 1 7th of January ; with the expecta- 
tion of driving him out of the state. But the impetuosity 
of Tarleton, ^hich had gained him high reputation, when 
he had surprised an incautious enemy, or attacked a panic- 
struck militia, was at this time the occasion of his ruin. 
Impatient of delay, he engaged with fatigued troops, led 
them into action before they were properly formed, or the 
reserve had taken its ground; and after one of the severest 
conflicts witnessed in the course of the whole war, was de- 
feated, with the loss of three-hundred men killed and wound- 
ed ; besides five-hundred prisoners, his artillery, and bag- 
'gage. The Americans had only twelve killed and sixty 
wounded. General Morgan was ably supported by colonels 
Washington, Howard, and Pickens ; who, as well as their 
commander, were honoured by congress with distinguished 
testimonies of their good conduct in this arduous engage- 
ment. 

Tarleton could not- bear to hear his enem.y praised. 
When some ladies in Charleston were eulogizing colonel 
Washington, he replied, with a scornful air ; " I would be 
very glad to get a sight of colonel Washington : I have 
heard much talk of him, but have never yet seen him.." — 
« Had you looked behind you, at the battle of the Cowpens," 
rejoined one of the ladies, " you might easily have enjoyed 
that pleasure." 

The defeat of Tarleton, his favourite officer, surprised 
and mortified, but did not discourage, lord Cornwallis. By 
vigorous exertion, he hoped soon to repair the late disaster; 
and, accordingly, commenced a pursuit of general Morgan; 
•whfo had moved off towards Virginia with his prisoners. 



THE UNITED STATES. 175 

Greene immediately left his main army under the command 
of general Huger, and, escorted by a few dragoons, rode a 
hundrcd-and-iifty miles through the country, to join the de- 
tachment under Morgan; that he might be in front of lord 
Cornwallis, and superintend the movements of both divis- 
ions. As Cornwallis was gaining ground upon him, the 
American commander ordered the prisoners to Charlotte- 
ville, and the troops to Guilford Court-house; whiiher, he 
had directed Huger to proceed with the main army. The 
British general at length destroyed nearly all his baggage ; 
and thus, relieved from the burthen of every appendage not 
essential for immediate subsistence, urged the pursuit, with 
so much rapidity, that he reached the Catawba the evening 
of the same day on which his flying adversary had crossed 
it. Before the next day, a heavy fall of rain made the river 
impassible ; an event, which, in a signal manner, favoured 
the Americans : had it taken place only a few hours earlier, 
General Morgan, with his whole detachment, and five-hun- 
dred prisoners, would have had scarcely any chance of 
escaping. Still, the ardour of the British was unabated. 
When the freshet had, in some degree, subsided, they 
marched through the river, which was upwards of five-hun- 
dred yards wide, and three feet deep ; susta'ining a constant 
fire from the militia on the opposite bank, without return- 
ing a single shot until they had efiected their passage. As 
soon as they reached the shore, the Americans dispersed. 
The latter continued to fly, and the former to pursue. But 
the swelling of the river Yadkin again off'ered a barrier to 
obstruct the British army : a second interposition of the 
floods ; which, being considered, by many, as the immedi- 
ate hand of Providence, gave fresh vigour to their exertions 
in favour of independence. 

In the meantime, the tv/o divisions of the American army 
had formed a junction, at Guilford Court-house ; but their 
number was so much inferior to the British, that general 
Greene could not, with any propriety, risk an action. He 
therefore held a council of officers ; who unanimously con- 
curred in opinion, that he ought to retire over the Dan, and 
avoid a battle, until reinforced. Lord Cornwallis had yet 
hopes of getting between the Americans and Virginia. 
But in this expectation he was deceived. The rapidity of 
one general was evaded by a corresponding celerity in the 
other. On the 1 4th of February, the American light troops 
having retired on that day upwards of forty miles, general 



176 HISTORY OF 

Greene crossed the river Dan into that province, with his 
entire army, artillery, and baggage. 

He did not allow his men to remain long inactive. Being 
informed that many of the inhabitants of North Carolina 
were preparing to make submission to the British general, 
he shortly afterwards re-crossed the river ; accompanied by 
a brigade of Virginia militia ; for the purpose of keeping 
alive the courage of his party. Some of his light troops, 
commanded by colonel (late major) Lee, fell in with three- 
hundred-and-fifty of the royalists, on their way to join the 
British standard at Hillsborough; when these, mistaking the 
Americans for a royal detachment sent to their support, were 
eut down, as they were crying out "God save the kingl" 
and making protestations of their loyalty. That was not 
the only misfortune of a similar kind, which attended these 
unnatural attempts at co-operation. Colonel Tarleton put 
to the sword several parties of the same description, in their 
advance to the British quarters ; mistaking them for the 
patriotic militia of the country : events which overset all 
the schemes of lord Cornwallis, and entirely stopped the 
recruiting service in behalf of the royal army. 

Whilst general Greene was unequal even to defensive 
operations, he lay, for seven days, within a few miles of the 
British camp : but took a new position every night ; by 
which frequency of movement, lord Cornwallis could not 
gain intelligence of his situation, in time to attack him with 
proper advantage. He manoeuvred in this manner for three 
weeks ; during which time, he was often obliged to ask 
bread from the common soldiers, having no provisions of 
his own. At the end of that period, a reinforcement ar- 
rived. This gave him a superiority of numbers, and de- 
termined him no long-cr to avoid a battle. An action took 
place, on the 15th of March, at Guilford Court-house. The 
American army consisted of four-thousand-four-hundred 
men, drawn up in three lines ; of whom more than a half 
were militia ; the British, of twenty-four-hundred ; chiefly 
troops inured to victory. After a brisk cannonade in front, 
the British advanced in three columns, and attacked the 
first line, composed of North Carolina militia. It gave 
way before the enemy were within a hundred yards. This 
was owing to the misconduct of a colonel ; who called out 
to an ofticer at some distance, that he would be surrounded. 
The militia were obliged to quit the field. The regulars 
maintained the conlii* l v/ith great spirit for an hour and a 
half; but the discipline of the British soldiers finally pre- 



THE UNITED STATES. \f.7 

vailed. A retreat was therefore directed ; and general 
Greene, about four-hundred of his men having been killed 
or wounded, retired in good order lo Speedwell's iron- 
works, ten miles from the field of battle. This was a dear- 
ly purchased victory. Eord Cornwallis lost the service of 
a third of his army, by death or v/ounds, and was m no con- 
dition to improve his advantage. 

One day, in the middle of winter, general Greene, when 
passing a sentinel who was barefooted, said : '' I fear, my 
good fellow, you suffer much from the severe cold," — 
"Yes, very much," was the reply, '»' but! do not complain. 
I know I should fare better, had our general the means of 
getting supplies. They say, however, that, in a few days, 
Ave shall have a fight; and then, I shall take care to secure 
a pair of shoes." 

In the same campaign, Dr. Faysough, when joining* 
Greene's army, called at the hut of general Huger, and was 
refused admission. The doctor insisted on his right to en- 
ter : the sentinel repeated his refusal. But Huger, recognis- 
ing the voice of his friend, ordered that he should be allow- 
ed to pass. " Pardon me, sir," said the general, who lay- 
on the ground, wrapped up in an old military cloak, " for 
this ungracious reception. The fate of war has robbed me 
of every comfort, and I confined myself to solitude and an 
old cloak, while my washerwoman is preparing the only- 
shirt I own." 

During those interesting occurrences, the whig inhabit- 
ants of South Carolina were animated by the gallant exer- 
tions of Sumpter and Marion ; the former, in the western, 
extremity, ably supported by colonels Neil, Lacy, Hill, Brat- 
ton, Winn, and Brandon ; the latter, in the north-eastern > 
aided by colonels Peter and Hugh Horry, colonels Baxter 
and PostcU, with majors Postcll and James. 

An affair in which major Postell was concerned, may- 
serve to show the spirit of the times, and, especially, the 
indifference for property which then prevailed. A captain 
of the royal army, with twenty-five grenadiers, having taken 
post in the house of Postell 's father, the major placed his 
small army of twenty-one militia so as to command its doors, 
and then called on them to surrender. This being refused, 
he set fire to an out-house ; was proceeding to burn the 
dwelling in which they were posted ; and nothing but their 
immediate submission restrained him from sacrificing his 
father's valuable establishment for the interest of his coun- 
try. 



178 HISTORY OF 

Another event is still more worthy of admiration ; as pro- 
reeding from the patriotic feeling of the female sex: who 
are less enabled to recover, by future industry, from the 
devastations of civil war. The British having built some 
works around Mrs. Motte's dwelling, situated above the 
fork, on the south side of the Congaree, she aided the 
Americans in burning her own house ; and was thus the 
means of compelling the garrison of nearly two-hundred 
men to surrender at discretion. The manner of accom- 
plishing this was singular. Opposite to the hill on which 
this lady's mansion stood, was another elevation, where she 
resided in the old farm-house. On this height, colonel Lee 
was posted, while general Marion occupied the eastern de- 
clivity of the ridge on which the fort stood. Lee having 
imparted to Mrs. Motte his design of burning her mansion 
by means of combustible matter conveyed by arrows, this 
magnanimous woman cheerfully presented him with a bow 
and its apparatus imported from India. The first arrow 
struck, and kindled a flame : a second and a third were 
equally successful, and very soon the entire roof was in a 
blaze. 

The escape of one of the prisoners taken at Mrs. Motte's 
house, was attended with a remarkable mcident. Amongst 
those denominated tories, was a person named Smith ; who, 
greatly dreading the resentment of his countrymen, pre- 
vailed on a sickly man, to whom he was hand-cuffed, to 
join him in eluding the guard. They had not travelled far 
into the woods, before his yoke-fellow, quite exhausted by 
fatigue, declared he could go no farther, and fell insensible, 
in a swoon. Confined by the hand-cuffs. Smith was com- 
pelled to lie by him two days and as many nights, without 
meat or drink ; his comrade being frequently in convul- 
sions. On the third day, he died. Smith could remain no 
longer : with his knife, he separated himself from the dead 
man, by cutting off his arm at the elbow, which he bore 
with him to the royal garrison at Charleston. 

An American soldier, flying from a party of the enemy, 
sought the protection of Mrs. Richard Shubrick. His pur- 
suers pressing closely after him, insisted that he should be 
delivered up, and, in case of refusal, threatened immediate 
destruction to her house. But, this intrepid female placed 
herself before the chamber into which the unfortunate fugi- 
tive had been conducted, and resolutely said ; " To men of 
honour, the chamber of a lady should be sacred. I will de- 
fend it, though I perish. You may succeed and enter it ; 



THE UNITED STATES. 179 

but it shall be over my corpse." — The officer, was, for a 
moment, speechless. " If muskets," he exclaimed, " were 
placed in the hands of a few such women, our only safety 
would be in retreat. Your heroism, Madam, protects you ; 
I relinquish the pursuit." 

So much, indeed, were the ladies of the south habituated 
to injuries, and so warmly were they interested in the con- 
test, that misfortunes were a cause rather of jocoseness, 
than regret. Mrs. Sabina Elliott having witnessed the ac- 
tivity of an officer who had ordered the plundering of her 
poultry -house, and finding an old Muscovy drake which had 
escaped the general search, had it caught, ordered a ser- 
vant to follow, on horseback, and deliver the fovA to the of- 
ficer ; with her compliments, that she concluded, in the 
hurry of departure, it had been left behind, altogether by 
mistake. 

An anecdote is related of Mrs. Charles Elliott. A Brit- 
ish officer, noted for inhumanity and oppression, meeting 
this lady in a garden adoi-ned with a great variety of flowers, 
asked the name of the Chamomile, which seemed to flour- 
ish with remarkable luxuriance. " That is the rebel flow- 
er," she replied. — " The rebel flower I" rejoined the offi- 
cer, " Why did it receive that name ?" — " Because," an- 
swered the lady, " it thrives miost, when most trampled on." 

Volumes would not record all the heroism of the Ameri- 
can females. Shortly after the commencement of the war, 
the family of Dr. Channing, then residing in England, re- 
moved to France, and sailed thence in a well-armed vessel 
for America. They had proceeded only a short way, when 
they were attacked by a privateer. A fierce engagement 
ensued ; during which, Mrs. Channing staid on deck, hand- 
ing cartridges, dressing the wounded, and exhorting the 
crew to resist till death. The colours of her vessel, were, 
however, struck ; when, seizing the pistols and side-armc 
of her husband, she threw them into the sea ; declaring, 
that she would rather die than see them surrendered to the 
English. 

The boys also were courageous, and wielded the arms of 
war at a very tender age. At the battle of Ramsour's Mill, 
when captain Falls received a mortal wound, and fell, his 
son, a youth of fourteen, rushed to the body, when the man, 
who had shot him, was beginning to plunder it ; and, re- 
gardless of his opponent's strength, snatched up his father's 
sword, and laid him dead at his parent's feet. 

The movements of lord Cornwallis after the battle of 



180 HISTORY OF 

Guilford, mdicated rather a defeat than a victory. Leaving 
his sick and wounded with the neighbouring loyalists, he 
began a march towards Wilmington ; which had all the 
appearance of a retreat. The Americans followed, until 
they arrived at Ramsey's mill, on Deep river. Cornwallis 
refreshed his army for about three weeks, and then moved 
to Petersburg, in Virginia. Even before it was known 
that the British commander had determined on this step, 
general Greene had formed the bold resolution of returning 
to South Carolina. Here, the British had erected a chain 
efforts, from the capital to the extreme districts of the state; 
which had regular communications with each other. The 
first object of Greene's attack, was Camden ; a village gar- 
risoned by lord Rawdon, with nine-hundred men. But, as 
his force consisted only of about an equal number of con- 
tinentals, with a few hundred militia, he was unequal to the 
task of carrying the place by storm, or of completely in- 
vesting it ; and therefore chose a good position, about a 
mile distant, in expectation of alluring the garrison from 
their lines. Lord Rawdon indulged him in his desire. 
With great spirit, he sallied out, on the 25th of April, and 
defeated his antagonist, at Hobkirk Hill ; after which, he 
returned to Camden ; while the Americans, having retreated 
in good order, encamped about five miles beyond their 
former position. 

Soon afterwards, lord Rawdon, finding that his commu- 
nication with the capital was cut off, burned a considerable 
portion of the town, and retired to the southward of the 
Santee. The British lost six posts in rapid succession, and 
abandoned all the north-eastern extremities of the state. 
But the bright prospect, now opening to the American ar- 
my, was, in a short time, obscured, by a heavy gloom. 
When nearly masters of the whole country, they experi- 
enced many severe repulses, particularly at Ninety-six, 
(afterwards named Cambridge,) and were compelled to re- 
treat to its utmost boundary. Greene was advised to re- 
tire, with his remaining force, to Virginia. To this sug- 
gestion, he replied, " I will recover South Carolina, or die 
in the attempt." He adopted the only expedient now left 
him ; that of avoiding an engagement, until the British 
force should be divided. His determination was rewarded 
with most signal success. After a series of manoeuvres, 
which deranged the entire plan of the British operations, 
on the eighth of September, he attacked their main body, 
encamped, under the command of colonel Stuart, at Eutaw 



THE UNITED STATES. 181 

Springs, and overthrew them, with a loss, on their side, of 
eleven-hundred men, including prisoners and wounded. 

When Marion's brigade was engaged in this battle, cap- 
tain Gee was supposed to be moriaily wounded. A ball 
passed through the cock of his hat, very much tearing the 
crown, and also his head. He lay, for many hours, insensi- 
ble ; but, suddenly reviving, his first inquiry was after his 
hat : which being brought to him, a friend at the same time 
lamenting the mangled state of his head, he exclaimed : 
" Oh, I care nothing about my head : time and the doctors 
will mend that ; but it grieves me to think that the rascals 
have ruined my new hat for ever." 

In the close of the year, Greene moved down into the 
lov.'er country ; and, about the same time, the British, 
abandoning their out-posts, retired, with their whole force, 
to Charleston Neck. The holding of the interior was re- 
linquished : the conquerors, v.ho had lately carried their 
aruis to the extremities of the state, now seldom aimed at 
any thing more than to secure themselves in the vicinity of 
the capital. 

The battle of Eutaw may be considered as ending the 
war in South Carolina : a few excursions were afterwards 
made by the British ; but nothing of more general conse- 
quence than the loss of property and of individual lives. 

When last we spoke of lord Cornwallis, he was march» 
ing towards Petersburg. Various plans of operation had 
occurred to him: whether he should return to South Caro- 
lina by sea ; follow general Greene directly through the 
barren country; or, leaving that province to the care of 
lord Rawdon, persevere in his design against Virginia. 
The last object was, after much deliberation, embraced; 
judging that the possession of the latter would, at any time, 
insure the obedience of South Carolina. In less than a 
month he reached Petersburg ; where he was joined by a 
numerous detachment, under general Philips : but, in pro- 
ceeding on his march, he was closely observed, and occa- 
sionally impeded, by the Marquis La Fayette; who, with 
a few thousand troops, was intrusted with the principal com- 
mand in that state. At Williamsburgh, the rear of the 
British army, being attacked by colonel Butler, sustained 
considerable loss ; and was afterwards in no small degree 
inconvenienced by the manoeuvring of general Wayne. 
Finally, lord Cornwallis, in conformity with the instructions 
of Sir Henry Clinton, but much against his own judgment, 
took a station at Yorktown, as the most desirable for a 
16 



182 HISTORY OF 

strong, permanent place of arms, both for the army and 
Jiavy. 

. Expecting a reinforcement from the West Indies, the 
British naval officers conceived that important operations 
would shortly be commenced in Virginia. But, whilst 
they were indulging these hopes, the count De Grasse, with 
a French fleet of twenty-eight sail, entered the Chesa- 
peake ; and, about the same time, intelligence arrived, that 
the combined armies, which had been stationed in the more 
northern states, were approaching. Before they had fully 
contemplated the danger of their situation, De Grasse block- 
ed up York river with three large ships and some frigates, 
and moored the principal part of his fleet in Lynhaven 
bay. Three-thousand French troops, commanded by the 
marquis De St. Simon, were disembarked ; which, having 
formed a junction with the continental troops under La 
Fayette, the whole took post at Williamsburgh. An at- 
tack on this force was designed : but, in consequence of 
promised reinforcements, lord Cornwallis thought it more 
consistent with military prudence to defer his original in- 
tention : and, as his instructions to hold his ground were 
considered positive, he used, at this period, no endeavour 
to abandon his station, though becoming, every day, more 
dangerous. 

Admiral Greaves, with twenty sail of the line, made an 
effort for the relief of Cornwallis ; but without efl*ecting 
his purpose.' On the 5th of September, when he appeared 
off the capes of Virginia, count De Grasse went out to 
meet him, and an indecisive engagement took place. The 
British were willing to renew the action ; but De Grasse, 
for good reasons, declined the challenge. His chief design 
was to cover a French fleet, of eight line-of-battle-ships, 
expected from Rhode Island ; an object which he accom- 
plished : for, whilst he was manoeuvring with admiral 
Greaves, they passed the latter in the night, and got with- 
in the capes. This gave the French a decided superiority: 
Greaves soon departed, and De Grasse re-entered the Ches- 
apeake. 

Before sir Henry Clinton was informed of that engage- 
ment, his solicitude had urged him to send a gallant offi- 
cer, with a letter to lord Cornwallis. This hazardous duty 
was performed by major Cochrane. The British admiral 
had left the Virginia waters before his arrival: yet at every 
peril, he ran through the whole French fleet, in an open 



THE UNITED STATES. 183 

boat, landed safely, and delivered his despatches ; but im- 
mediately, his head was shot off by a cannon ball. 

The loss ultimately sustained by the British, in the cap- 
ture of St. Eustatia, was now apparent. Weakened by 
the absence of a squadron sent to England with the wealth 
acquired in that island, their fleet was rendered inferior to 
the French ; and thus, although individuals were enrichedj 
the interest of the nation was involved in ruin. 

All this time, in accordance with the well-digested plan 
of the campaign, the French and American forces were 
marching through the middle states, on their way to York- 
town. 

New York had been fixed as the grand object of assault; 
but subsequent events had rendered an attack on Yorktown 
the most desirable. A show of prosecuting the original 
design, was, nevertheless, continued. A letter from gen- 
eral Washington, detailing the particulars of the first in- 
tended operations, had been intercepted by Sir Henry Clin- 
ton ; so that this officer bent his whole force to the strength- 
ening of that post : and, believing that every movement 
towards Virginia was a feint, he suffered the allied forces 
to pass him unmolested. 

Washington and Rochambeau reached Williamsburgli 
on the 14th of September ; and, with a few confidential of- 
ficers, visited the count Be Grasse on board his zhlZ, Z?,i 
decided the arrangements. On the 25th, the combined 
forces, under the care of general Nelson, arrived there ; 
and, in a few days afterwards, general Washington moved 
down with the whole towards Yorktown. 

The works erected for its security, on the right, were re- 
doubts and batteries, with a line of stockade in the rear. 
A marshy ravine lay in front of the right ; over which, was 
placed a large redoubt. A morass extended along the cen- 
tre, guarded by a line of stockade and batteries. On the 
left of the centre, was a horn-work, with a ditch, a row of 
frise, and an abatis. Two redoubts were advanced before 
the left. The combined forces took possession of an out- 
ward position, from which the British had retired. About 
this time, the latter detached some cavalry to Gloucester ; 
which, general De Choisy so fully invested, as to cut off 
all communication between it and the country. In the 
meantime, the royal army was exerting every nerve to 
complete their half-finished works, and impede, by their 
artillery, the operations of the combined army. On the 
9th of October, the Utter ppened their batteries, and kept 



184 HISTORY OF 

up a well-directed fire, from heavy cannon, mortars, and 
howitzers. The shells of the besiegers reached the vessels 
in the harbour. 

On the 10th, another messenger arrived, with a despatch 
from Sir Henry Clinton to lord Cornwailis, which stated 
various circumstances, tending- to lessen the probability of 
relief, by a direct movement from Nev/ York. 

The besiegers commenced their second parallel, two- 
hundred yards from the British works ; but, tvvo redoubts, 
advanced on the left of these, greatly impeded the progress 
t>f the combined army. It was, therefore, proposed to en- 
ter them by storm. To excite a spirit of emulation, the 
reduction of one was committed to the P^rench; of the 
other, to the Americans. The latter, led by colonels Hamil- 
ton and Laurens, marched to the assault with unloaded 
muskeis ; and, having passed the abatis and palisades, over- 
came the redoubt in a few minutes, with inconsiderable 
loss. Eight of the British were killed, one-hundred-and- 
twenty were captured, and a few escaped. The French 
were equally successful ; though at a greater expense of 
lives. They took the redoubt assigned to them ^ith rapidi- 
ty ; but, being more numerously opposed, their less amount- 
ed CO nearly one-hundred men. These works being, im- 
mediately afterwards, included in the second parallel, then- 
occupation facilitated the subsequent approaches. 

The situation of the besieged was hourly growing more 
distressing. Their fate was hastening to a crisis. The 
assailants poured destruction upon them, from the very 
means which they had erected for defence ; whilst continu- 
ed sallies to repel them, could not, with propriety, be risk- 
ed. One was projected, with four-hundred men, command- 
ed by colonel Abercrombie. He proceeded so far as to 
force two redoubts, and spike eleven pieces of cannon ; but, 
though the officers and privates displayed great bravery in 
this enterprise, their success produced no essential advan- 
tage. The cannon were soon unspiked and rendered fit for 
service. 

By this time, the batteries of the besiegers were covered 
with nearly a hundred pieces of heavy ordnance ; and the 
works of the besieged were so much damaged, that they 
could scarcely show a smgle gun. Lord Cornwailis had 
no safety left, except in capitulation or escape. He deter- 
mined on the latter. • Means were accordingly prepared, 
to carry the troops, in the night, to Gloucester Point ; 
l»ut, after one party had crossed over, a violent storm dis- 



THE UNITED STATES. 185 

persed the boats, and frustrated the entire desip^n. Thus 
weakened by separation, the royal army was exposed to in- 
creased dani^er ; and orders were sent to those who had 
passed, to return. Loni^er resistance would aggravate, 
without offering the remotest probability of averting, their 
misfortune. Lord Cornv/allis, therefore, wrote a letter to 
general Washington, requesting a cessation of arms for 
twenty-four hours, and the appointment of commissioners 
to arrange the terms of a surrender. A capitulation was 
agreed on ; by which, the posts of York and Gloucester 
were entered by the combined forces, on the 1 9th of Octo- 
ber. The honour of marching out with colours flying, 
which had been refused to general Lincoln on his giving 
up Charleston, was now refused to Cornwallis: and Lincoln 
was appointed to receive the submission of the royal army, 
precisely in the same way in which Sir Henry Clinton had 
received his own. 

The troops of every kind that surrendered, exceeded 
seven-thousand ; but, so great v/as the number of sick and 
wounded, that there were not four-thousand capable of 
bearing arms. The regular forces, employed in their re- 
duction, consisted of seven-thousand French, and five-thous- 
and-five-hundred Americans, with the addition of about 
four-thousand militia. 

This may be considered a^ the closing scene of the re- 
volutionary war. The whole project was conceived with 
profound wisdom, and the incidents were combined with 
singular propriety. The French and American engineers 
and artillery merited the highest praise. Generals Du 
Portail and Knox, with colonel Gouvion, and captain Roche- 
fontaine, were promoted. Washington, Rochambeau, De 
Grasse, and all the officers and men under their command, 
were honoured by the thanks of congress. Unusual trans- 
ports of joy pervaded the whole people. It is asserted, 
that the nerves of some were so agitated, as to produce 
convulsions ; and the aged door-keeper of congress, expir- 
ed from the violence of his feelings. General Washington 
ordered, that those who were under military arrests, should 
be pardoned, and that divine service should be performed in 
the different brigades of the army; at which, he recom- 
mended the presence of all the troops not upon duty, to 
assist, with a serious deportment and grateful heart, in of- 
fering thanks to that Providence who had so remarkably- 
extended his hand in their behalf Moved by a similar 
feeling, congress resolved to go hi procession to church, to 
16* 



186 HISTORY OF 

give public acknowledgment to Almighty God ; and issu- 
ed a proclamation for religiously observing the 13th of De- 
cember following, as a day of thanksgiving and prayer. 

We cannot quit this interesting period of our history, 
without paying a tribute of respect to the admirable de- 
portment of the French army, since their first arrival in 
the United States. At Rhode Island, where they had spent 
the chief part of their time, they conducted themselves 
towards the inhabitants as brothers. In their march to York- 
town, five-hundred miles of their journey lay through a 
country abounding in fruit, and at a time when the most 
delicious productions of nature, growing on and near the 
high-ways, presented both opportunity and temptation to 
gratify their appetites, rendered eager by the effects of a 
parching sun ; yet, in this long route, amongst a people 
of different principles, customs, language, and religion, so 
complete was their discipline, that scarcely an instance 
could be produced of a peach or an apple being taken, 
without the consent of the inhabitants. 

A happy reward of all their labours, a full compensation 
for the streams of blood so generously shed by the Ameri- 
can patriots, were now almost obtained. The year ter- 
minated in every part of the United States, in favour of the 
cause of freedom. It began with Aveakness, mutiny, and 
devastation, and ended in confidence, victory, and joy. ^'. 

General Washington, with the greater part of his forces/^Jj 
returned, after the completion of this conquest, to New 
York. An obstruction of the intercourse between the town 
and country, was all that he at this period attempted; and 
the British, on their part, were coiilented to remain wathin 
their lines. In Carolina, the same conduct was mutually 
observed. But, in one of the desultory skirmishes which 
occurred in the neighbourhood of Charleston, the Ameri- 
cans had to deplore the loss of the amiable and intrepid 
colonel Laurens. In Georgia, the war ended with a se- 
vere, though indecisive, engagement, near Savannah ; in 
which, the royal troops, aided by a large number of Creek 
Indians, were opposed by an American detachment under 
general Wayne. The English government, having deter- 
mined to relinquish, at least for the present, an offensive 
warfare in the United States, withdrew their forces from 
this, and the adjoining province of South Carolina. 

It was happy for all the contending parties, that the na- 
tional pride of Britain did not interfere, to prevent what 
"\zras so forcibly urged by policy. Humbled by the defeat 



THE UNITED STATES. li^7 

at Yorktown, it required the splendid victories gained b)' 
her navy in the West Indies and her army at Gibraltar, to 
reconcile an acquiescence with revolted colonies ; for, 
Eng-land never admits that she is vanquished. France, as 
well as Spain, saw no prospect of success. Disappointed 
in their immediate views, both, it may easily be conceived, 
would have sheathed the sword, and allowed the young re- 
public to struggle, unaided, for existence. Britain, wearied 
by a contest, in which one-hundred-millions sterling had 
been added to her debt, and the lives wasted of fifty-thousand 
of her subjects ; in which, defeat was doubly disgraceful, 
and victory without the consolation of renown, would glad- 
ly have desisted from offensive operations in the United 
States. But the Americans, firm to their stipulations, 
were determined not to remain inactive, and to conclude 
no arrangement which did not comprise their European 
allies. 

In the British parliament, which met in December, short- 
ly after the capitulation at Yorktown became known in 
London, the decided language of the king's speech, point- 
ing to the continuance of the American war, was approv- 
ed, or, at least, assented to, by a majority of both lords 
and commons. A few days afterwards, a motion was in- 
troduced in the lower house, declaring. That all farther 
attempts to reduce the Americans, to obedience, by force, 
would be ineffectual, and injurious to the best interests of 
Great Britain. This, however, was not carried ; though 
the debate on the subject was prolonged until two o'clock 
in the morning, and the friends of peace, amongst whom 
Mr. Burke and Mr. Fox were particularly distinguished 
for their eloquence, had received additional strength. As 
the opposition party become every day more numerous, and 
the nation were now almost universally actuated by the same 
feelings, general Conway soon afterwards brought forward 

H.oc> a similar resolution; which, after much strenuous 
debating, was successful, by a respectable majority. 
A new administration was the necessary consequence of 
this change in the public sentiment. Lord North's situa- 
tion was assigned to the marquis of Rocking*l>am ; and, oa 
the decease of the latter, the chief reins of government 
were intrusted to the earl of Shelburne, assisted by Wil- 
liam Pitt, son of the celebrated lord Chatham. This no- 
bleman, whose memory is entitled to the highest degree of 
respect and gratitude, in the breast of every American, 
had been removed in the year 1778, by death, from the 



i88 HISTORY OF 

uneasy contemplation of those destructive measures that 
he had so ably combated, and that were now on the eve of 
being abandoned. 

, To remove constitutional impediments, an act of parlia- 
ment was passed, giving the crown a power of negotiating 
with the revolted colonies ; an indispensable authority : as, 
by the terms on which the king holds the executive func- 
tions of the British empire, he cannot divest it of any of its 
ancient appendages. 

Every difficulty being removed, commissioners on the 
part of her late colonies and Great Britain entered on the 
important business of pacification, at Paris. The former 
confided their interest to John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, 
John Jay, and Henry Laurens; the latter, to Mr. Fitzher- 
bert and Mr. Oswald. Two of the first sovereigns of Eu- 
rope, the empress of Russia and the emperor of Germany, 
were mediators in promoting the desirable agreement. 
Preliminary articles of peace were signed on the 30th of 
November ; and on the 3rd of September in the next 
year, they were ratified and inserted in a definitive 
treaty between Great -Britain and France. The independ- 
ence of the states was acknowledged. Very ample bound- 
aries were allowed them ; comprehending the fertile and 
extensive countries on both sides of the Ohio, and on the 
east side of the Mississippi. They were also allowed the 
right of fishing on the banks of Newfoundland, and in all 
other waters hitherto visited for that purpose by both na- 
tions. The ministers of congress procured for their coun- 
trymen better terms than they had reason to expect ; larg- 
er boundaries than the states, when colonies, had ever 
claimed: but the additional territories could have been of 
no use to Great Britain ; and might, if retained, have oc- 
casioned another war. 

Peace was proclaimed in the American army, on the 
19th of April; just eight years from the memorable day 
when the first blood was shed between the colonies and the 
parent state, in the fields of Lexington and Concord. 

In the midst of the pleasing reflections on the past, and 
anticipations of the future, the circumstances of the brave 
Americans who had spent the prime of their lives in com- 
bating even more than a human enemy could inflict, drew 
forth the commiseration of every generous breast. The 
states, which owed to them their political existence, were 
all unable, at thisperiod, to fulfil their stipulations with their 
Koopsj and several were unwilling, through selfish motives. 



THE UNITED STATES. 189 

to join with congress in establishing a uniform taxation at 
the sea-ports, from which a fund might arise for doing jus- 
tice to them hereafter. OfTicers and privates were about 
to be dismissed, many of whom had not, for five years, re- 
ceived the smallest pecuniary compensation, to reward their 
dangers and fatigues, or cancel the debts contracted in 
th( ir absence by their families. Consequences the most 
serious were apprehended. Anonymous publications were 
circulated, to inflame the minds of the unrequited forces, 
and induce them to unite in redressing their grievances, be- 
fore they parted with their arms. The dignified coolness 
of general Washington interposed to dispel the storm. He 
requested the general and field officers, and an officer from 
each company, to assemble at an early day ; and, previous 
to the meeting, sent for one of these after another, and en- 
larged, in private, on the loss of character, to the whole ar- 
my, which would result from intemperate resolutions. 
When they were afterwards convened, he addressed them 
in a speech, well calculated to sooth their minds ; pledging- 
himself to exert all his influence in their favour, and ap- 
pealing to their honour, their humanity, and their regard 
to the military as well as the national character of their 
rising country. He then retired. No reply whatever v.'as 
attempted. Softened by the eloquence of their beloved 
commander, those who had entered the meeting irritated 
in the highest degree, by the contemplation of their wrongs 
and the extent of their sufferings, acquiesced in a reso- 
lution, " That no circumstances of distress, or danger, 
should induce a conduct that might tend to sully the repu- 
tation and glory they had acquired; that the army continu- 
ed to have an unshaken confidence in the justice of congress 
and their country ; and that they viev/ed with abhorrence, 
and rejected with disdain, the infamous proposition in the 
late anonymous addresses." 

Soon afterwards, congress determined, that the officers 
who preferred an immediate sum to the half-pay for life, 
before promised them, should be entitled to receive, in its 
place, the amount of five years' full pay, in money, or in 
securities bearing interest. 

To avoid the inconvenience of dismissing a great num- 
ber of soldiers, in a body, furloughs were readily granted to 
individuals; without enjoining their return. Thus, a great 
part of an unpaid army was clisbanded, and dispersed over 
the several states, without tumult or disorder. About 
wghty, however, of the Pennsylvania levies, formed an ex- 



190 HISTORY OF 

ception to the general disposition of the army. Having, lu 
defiance of their officers, marched to Philadelphia, where 
they prevailed on some other troops to join them, the whole, 
amounting to upwards of three-hundred, proceeded, with 
fixed bayonets, to the statehouse, in which, congress and 
the executive council of Pennsylvania were assembled ; 
placed guards at the door, and sent in a written message to 
the president and council, threatening them with military 
vengeance, if their demands were not satisfied in less than 
twenty minutes. Dreading the fury of an enraged soldiery, 
congress, after a three hours' confinement, retired, and ap- 
pointed their next place of meeting at Princeton. Washing- 
ton again displayed his parental care. He immediately or- 
dered a strong detachment of his army to march to Phila- 
delphia. Several of the mutineers were tried, and condemn- 
ed to suffer death ; but they were all ultimately pardoned. 
Four months' pay was, afterwards, through the great ex- 
ertions of the superintendent of finance, given to the ar- 
my ; a sum, which, although trifling, was all the recom- 
pense the states were at that time able to make. 

On the 25th of November, about three weeks after the 
American army was discharged. New York was evacuated 
\j'y tliC British forces i and Washington, accompanied by 
governor Clinton, made a public entry into tha,t city, in 
grand procession. An interesting moment was approach- 
ing. The period arrived, when the commander-in-chief 
was to bid adieu to his officers ; men endeared to him by 
a long series of common sufferings and dangers, and by the 
successful issue of their exertions. The parting was solemn 
and affecting. Calling for a glass of wine, Washington 
thus addressed them : " With a heart full of love and grati- 
tude, I now take leave of you. I most devoutly wish that 
your latter days may be as prosperous and happy, as your 
former have been glorious and honourable." The officers 
advanced to him successively; he took an affectionate fare-, 
well of each; and then passed through a corps of light in- 
fantry to the place of embarkation. They followed in mute 
procession, with countenances expressive of their serious 
feelings. He entered the barge, turned to the companions 
of his glory, waved his hat, and bade them a silent adieu. 

His military cares being ended, Washington lent his fos- 
tering regard to the civil adm.inistration. Anxious that 
they should enjoy in tranquillity what they had gained by so 
great an expenditure of lives, he addressed a circular letter 
to the governors of the different states ; in which? with all 



THE UxVITED STATES. 191 

the charms of his distinguished eloquence, he inculcated 
the necessity of justice, of subordination to the arrange- 
ments required by their new situation, and improve-iicnt in 
the original bond of political union. 

He next proceeded to Annapolis, then the seat of con- 
gress, to resign his commission. In every town and village 
through which he passed, he was met by demonstrations of 
gratitude and joy. The 23rd of December, having been 
appointed for that interesting ceremony, general Washing- 
ton appeared before them ; when, addressing the president, 
*' The great events on which my resignation depended," 
said he, " having at length taken place, I have now the 
honour of offering my sincere congratulations to congress, 
and of presenting myself before them, to surrender into 
their hands the trust committed to me, and to claim the in- 
dulgence of retiring from the service of my country. Hap- 
py in the confirmation of our independence and sovereignty, 
and pleased with the opportunity afforded the United States 
of becoming a respectable nation, I resign, with satisfaction, 
the appointment I accepted with diffidence ; a diffidence of 
my abilities to accomplish so arduous a task : which, how- 
ever, was superseded by a confidence in the rectitude of 
our cause, the support in the supreme power of the Union, 
and the patronage of Heaven. The successful termination 
of the war has verified the most sanguine expectations: my 
gratitude for the interposition of Providence, and the assist- 
ance I have received from my countrymen, increases with 
every review of the momentous contest. While I repeat 
my obligations to the army, in general, I should do injustice 
to my own feelings, not to acknowledge, in this place, the 
peculiar services, and distinguished merits, of those gentle- 
men who have been attached to my person during the war. 
It was impossible the choice of confidential officers, to com- 
pose my family, could have been more fortunate. Permit 
me, sir, to recommend, in particular, those who have con- 
tinued in the service to the present moment, as worthy of 
the favourable notice and patronage of congress. 

*' I consider it as an indispensable duty to close this last 
solemn act of my official life, by commending the interests 
of our country to the protection of Almighty God, and 
those who have the superintendence of them to his holy 
keeping. 

" Having thus finished the work assigned me, I retire 
from the great theatre of action ; and, bidding an affectionate 
farewell to this august body, under whose orders I hare 



i92 HISTORY OF 

long acted, I here offer my commission, and take my leave 
oi all the employments ot public life." 

After an eloquent and affecting reply by the president, 
general Mifflin, Washington withdrew. He hastened, with 
exquisiie delight, to Mount Vernon ; where, he exchanged 
the anxious labours of the camp, for the pleasing industry 
of a farm; the instruments of war, for those of husbandry; 
and became the patron and example of ingenious and pro- 
fitable agriculture, as well as the successful promoter of 
inland navigation. 

Having thus followed the great military exertions of the 
American patriots to a happy termination, a short account 
of the legislative proceedmgs of the individual colonies may 
here be given with advantage. 

The important revolution, as regarded their dependence 
on Great Britain, required a corresponding alteration in 
their governments. This had been reconnnended by the 
general congress, at an early period of the war. Except 
in Rhode Island, which retained the charter granted by 
Charles the second, conventions were assembled; which 
formed new constitutions, agreeably with the strictest prin- 
ciples of republicanism ; retaining whatever was desirable 
in the original institutions, and providing every additional 
security against tyranny and corruption, that ingenuity or 
experience could dictate. In these, though, in som-e mat- 
ters there is an opposition of sentiment, yet, in the main ob- 
jects, tending to allow to man his natural right of liberty 
and equality, the features have a striking resemblance. 
With a few exceptions, the mind is uncontrolled in its in- 
tercourse with God. There is no inconvenience, either 
civil or political, suffered by individuals who differ in relig- 
ious opinions from the predominant party in the state. All 
religions are equally protected ; and all citizens of good 
moral character, not denying the existence of one superin- 
tending Being, with a future state of rewards and pun- 
ishments, are, in most of the American communities, elig^ 
ible to the highest honours that the several republics can 
confer. 

The statute and common laws of England, formerly ob- 
served in the provincial courts of justice, remain in prac- 
tice, as before. The inestimable privilege, of British deri- 
vation, a trial by jury ; the freedom of the press, with the 
additional right, in case of prosecuting for a libel, of giving 
evidence as to the truth of the facts alleged in the obnoxi- 
ous publication, where the matter is a proper subject of 



THE UNITED STATES. 19d 

public interest ; are declared fundamental principles of the 
newly adopted constitutions : also, that debtors shall not 
be imprisoned, after delivering to their creditors a true 
schedule of all their property ; that capital punishments 
shall be inflicted only for enormous crimes ; and that no 
conviction in a court of justice shall cause the forfeiture of 
the criminal's estate, or any degree of injury to the rights 
of his descendants. No hereditary honours can be granted. 
No titles, except those which designate an office, are recog- 
nised by law. There is only one deviation from the latter 
essential mark of the republican spirit. Massachusetts has 
conferred the ephemeral title of " His Excellency" on the 
governor ; and upon the lieutenant-governor, of the state, 
that of " His Honour." But, although these aristocratic 
customs are so generally denounced by the laws, they are 
eagerly followed by the people. They are universally 
usurped, and mutually allowed, by the members of the 
state and general governments, and as freely applied by 
their constituents. There are in the United States more 
nominal nobility, than any country in the world exhibits, of 
legitimate creation. Every governor is Excellent ; every 
judge, senator, and representative, is Honourable; and every 
justice of the peace, distinguished by the chivalric title of 
Esquire. These frivolities should be carefully discouraged, 
and the dangerous assumptions, by every real friend of 
liberty, opposed. They are the first robes in which a repub- 
lic advances to aristocracy ; thence, ta monarchy, and, from 
monarchy, to oppression and extravagance. 

The governments resemble, in their principal organiza- 
tion, the frame of the new federal constitution. They consist 
of three branches ; a governor, a senate, and a lower house 
of representatives. But, in nearly all the states, property 
is required to qualify the candidates for their situations ; 
and, in many, it is a requisite qualification in the elector. 
Jn New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania; Dela- 
ware, South Carolina, and Georgia ; the greatest liberality, 
in that respect, prevails. In those states, every free citi- 
zen of twenty-one years of age, after residing a certain time 
within the respective commonwealths, and contributing his 
share of the public expenditure, (excluding, in some, the 
inhabitants of colour,) is allowed a vote. Massachusetts 
and Connecticut ; New York, New Jersey, and Virginia ; 
confine the elective right to citizens possessed of prc^ :.rty. 
New Jersey formerly extended the right of voting to fe- 
males. Maryland allows no political liberty except to 
17 



194 HISTORY OF 

Christians; North Carolina observes a similar jealousy of 
all but Protestants : and Christians are the only people en- 
titled to general protection by the constitutions of New 
Hampshire and Massachusetts. Senators are required to be 
more advanced in years than members of the lower house : 
they hold their stations for a longer period of time ; and, in 
several states, are not chosen directly by the people, but by 
the representative bodies, or by intermediate electors, ap- 
pointed by the former. In New York, and Maryland, North 
and South Carolina, and Georgia, clergy are not eligible as 
members of either branch of the legislature. 

To enable the public to have the services of men, who, 
with integrity and talents, possess not adequate means of 
support when absent from their usual vocations, compen- 
sation is allowed to members of the legislature, during their 
journey and attendance at the seat of government ; a regu- 
lation similar to the ancient practice in England. That 
frequent recurrence may be had to the judgment of the 
people, the terms of representative service are short. Elec- 
tions, for the lower branch, are, in general, made yearly. 
The votes are, in some states, given by ballot ; in others, by 
open voice ; both modes having their advocates ; as it is 
difficult to ascertain whether, in practice, the former method 
is entitled to a preference. 

The interruption suffered by foreign commerce, gave a 
lively stimulus to domestic ingenuity. To the revolution, 
the United States are indebted for the cultivation of sugar 
from the maple tree. Determined to use, so far as it was 
possible, no productions except of their own growth or 
manufacture, the inhabitants tried every means of supplying 
their conveniences from their native stores ; and a farmer, 
at Bernardstown, in Massachusetts, in the early stage of the 
misunderstanding with the British parliament, succeeded 
in producing, from the northern forest, a species of sugar, 
little inferior to that usually manufactured from the cane. 

The department of literature is the next subject that 
claims attention. Several years before the revolution, a 
type-foundry was commenced at Germantown, but em- 
ployed chiefly for the presses of its owner, Christopher 
Sower, who printed the Bible, and other works, in the Ger- 
man language; and, in 1769, Abel Buel of Killingsworth, 
in Connecticut, began the casting of types, on a small scale: 
but, the first, who regularly pursued this business in the 
United States, was John Baine, of Edinburgh, who settled 
in Philadelphia, soon after the termination of the war. ' 



THE UNITED STATES. 19o 

Some of the early settlers in Virginia were men of letters : 
but, with the exception of their historians, Smith, Stith, 
Beverley, and Keith, they have left no writings of import- 
ance. Before the revolution, the only work of general in- 
terest published in the colonies, was the first volume of the 
Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, insti- 
tuted in 1743, and held in Philadelphia. Men of science 
liad promulgated their ordinary ideas in the newspapers, 
and their essays, of a higher character, through the medium, 
of the Royal Society of London. Fourteen Americans, — 
four of the name of Winthrop, Paul Dudley, and president 
Leverett ; Thomas Brattle, Cotton Mather, doctors Frank- 
lin, Boylestone, Mitchell, Morgan, Rittenhouse, and Gar- 
den; were members of that association. 

The families of Winthrop and Mather were distinguished 
amongst the first inhabitants of New England, for their 
virtues and general abilities. Of the latter, (no fewer than 
ten of whom exercised, at the same time, the clerical pro- 
fession,) Cotton Mather was the most conspicuous. He 
was one of the most voluminous writers of his day. His 
Magnalia, published in the beginning of the last century, is 
an extraordinary performance ; alike interesting, as con- 

tainlngf the church history of New England, and curious, aS 

displaying a puerile inconsistency with his liberal education, 
in his belief of witchcraft, and its whole train of antichris- 
tian absurdities. Dr. Boylestone, in the year 1720, intro- 
duced into Boston, the practice of inoculation for the small- 
pox ; before w hich time, it was not used in any part of the 
American continent. |^ 

The name of Franklin, which has frequently appeared in 
our political narrative ; a name inseparably associated with 
that of liberty ; is no less illustrious in the annals of philoso- 
phy. Benjamin Franklin will be a lasting theme of admi- 
ration. Endued by nature with an originality of thought, 
uncommon accuracy of judgment, and deep penetration ; 
his mental faculties unclouded by intemperance ; his whole 
time devoted to industry; his resources improved by a rigid 
system of economy ; he rose, from an humble station, to 
eminence in business, enjoyed the highest honours within 
his adopted province, and enriched the fieldof science with 
the sublimity of his researches. In developing the subtle 
nature of the electric fluid, he was unrivaled. Though his 
theory of " positive and negative electricity" has not been 
demonstrated to the entire satisfaction of philosophers, yet, 
no other has been imagined to supply its place ; nor have 



196 HISTORY OF 

any experiments, in the smallest degree, shaken the prolra.- 
bic correctness of his system. But a discovery of a grand- 
er character was reserved for Dr. Franklin. To him, the 
Avorld is indebted, for showing the electrical quality of 
lightning ; and, consequently, the means of preserving our 
dwellings and shipping from the destructive flash. No one 
should be unacquainted with the mental treasures contained 
in his various works. His biography and maxims, togeth- 
er with a sketch of his principal discoveries, should be in 
the hands of every youth ; and the whole of his essays and 
transactions, studied with minute attention by the philoso- 
pher. Boston may justly be proud of being the birth-place 
of Dr. Franklin ; and Pennsylvania will gratefully remem- 
ber the services of her adopted citizen. Besides the foun- 
dation of the Philadelphia Library, in 1731, his country re- 
mains largely indebted to him for innumerable institutions, 
as well as for pecuniary bequests mentioned in his will.* 

The translation of Cicero's treatise on old age, made, in 
the year 1734, by Mr. Logan, of Pennsylvania, is highly de- 
serving the perusal of those who are advanced in years, and 
of young persons in their progress to maturity. Much 
comfort will be received from it by the aged, and much 
p-ood advice to inconsiderate youth. It illustrates the ad- 
vLintages of temperance, and of early mental improvement, 
by copious examples of men, who, long after the period 
usually allowed to human life, had served their country with 
distinction in the senate, enlightened mankind by their 
wisdom, or enjoyed the satisfaction of domestic retirement. 
The translator has furnished notes, containing a more ex- 
tended biography of the characters mentioned in the origi- 
nal ; thereby rendering the work more interesting to read- 
ers not extensively conversant with ancient history : and 
Franklin, by whom it was originally published, has confer- 
red an important obligation on those who are deficient in 
sight, by printing it with a type of unusually large size. In 
the preface. Dr. Franklin says, " this is the first translation 
made of any of the ancient classics, in the western world ;'* 
an assertion, that is, we believe, erroneous: as, in 1623, 
more than a century before, it appears, that Mr. Sandys, 
treasurer of the Virginia Company, translated Ovid's Meta- 
morphoses,— the most ancient literary production of Amer- 
ica. 



• Dr. Franklin died in Philadelphia, in the year 1790, at the atl- 
vanced age of eighty.four. 



THE UNITED STATES. 197 

As a botanist, Dr. Clayton, of Virginia, holds an honoura- 
ble station, and Rittenhouse of Pennsylvania is equally dis- 
tinguished in astronomy. The former passed a long life in 
examining the plants of his native province. His Flora 
Virginica, published at Leyden in the year 1762, ranks him 
amongst the most industrious and useful enlargers of the 
botanical catalogue. 



CHAPTER VHI. 

NEW FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. 

J\''ational Bank. Insurrection in Massachusetts.^ and in 
Pennsylvania. Vermont. Kentucky. War with the 
Indians. 

BY the treaty of peace, large territories, which had not 
been granted to individuals, were ceded to the United 
States. But these lands were included within the charter- 
ed limits of particular states, and were in actual posses- 
sion of the aborigines. Ample cessions were, however, 
made in favour of the nation, by the former ; and a large 
tract of country, situated to the north-west of the Ohio, 
was surrendered by the latter ; on condition of their enjoy- 
ing the friendship of the United States, and a regular sup- 
ply of merchandise. Having joined the British in the re- 
volutionary contest, they were considered, by the laws of 
v/ar, as a conquered people ; a principle which was men- 
tioned to their leaders, and upon which the terms of this 
arrangement were, in a great measure, conducted. 

There yet remained for discussion, a subject of much 
higher importance. The general government was not es- 
tablished on a solid foundation. The articles of union, 
formed under the pressure of common danger, were founcj 
inadequate to the eflicient management of the same countiy, 
in the selfish periods of peace and security. It was neces- 
sary that there should be a radical reform. The original 
compact required the concurrence of seven states to every 
act, and of nine, to several higher objects, of legislation. 
It frequently happened, that some of the states were not 
represented in the general congress ; or, perhaps, by only 
one It. ember, or by an even number, equally divided in 
opinion j cases, in which, their votes were of no effect, 

ir* 



198 HISTORY OF 

This bond of union was defective, not only in its powei;s, 
but in the means of executing them. Its acts required the 
interposition of the states composing it, to give them effect 
within their respective jurisdictions. The laws of con- 
gress, without the aid of state laws to enforce them, were 
nugatory ; and thus, the government was paralysed. No 
efficient fund being provided to pay the interest of the na- 
tional debt, the public securities of the United States fell 
to one-tenth of their nominal value. The soldier who had 
received a certificate for the payment of his hard-earned 
dues, was often, from necessity, obliged to transfer his right 
for an insignificant consideration. The monied man, who 
had trusted his country in the hour of its distress, was de- 
prived, not only of his interest, on which he depended for 
support, but of a great part of his capital. A necessity 
was created, or an apology furnished, for the non-payment 
of private contracts ; mutual confidence received a deadly 
wound, and the morals of the people were seriously im- 
paired ; evils, which general Washington, in his circular 
letter, before his resignation, most forcibly predicted. 
These sufferings were increased by restrictions on Ameri- 
can commerce. The intercourse with the British West 
India islands, from which, the colonies had derived large 
quantities of gold and silver, was forbidden to them by the 
English government, in their new character of independent 
states : Spain denied their right of navigating the Missis- 
sippi : and, they could no longer safely enter the Mediter- 
ranean ; a privilege which they had always enjoyed, when 
a part of the British empire. Unable to defend themselves 
against the Algerines, whose forbearance was purchased 
by England, they were constrained either to relinquish a 
beneficial trade, or insure their adventures, to that quarter, 
at a ruinous premium. Thus, when the people supposed 
their troubles at an end, they found that they were only 
-varied; that they had obtained liberty, without the con- 
comitant blessings of freedom ; the name, without the at- 
tributes of a nation. 

Feeling the pressure of their sufferings, and unprovided 
with a remedy, because unacquainted with their source, 
the inhabitants became uneasy ; and many were ready to 
adopt any desperate measures that turbulent leaders recom- 
mended. Several thousand disorderly citizens of Massa- 
chusetts, headed by Daniel Shay, who had been a subaltern 
1786 ^^^^'^ ^^ ^^® revolutionary war, complaining of 
heavy taxes, threatened to march to Boston and 



THE UNITED STATES. I^§ 

compel the general assembly to reduce them ; attacked 
the arsenal at Springfield, and thus opposed the laws which 
their own authority had framed. However, by the mod- 
eration of the legislature, aided by the bravery and good 
conduct of generals Lincoln and Shepherd, who were plac- 
ed at the head of a firm and well-affected militia, the in- 
surgents were speedily dispersed, with inconsiderable loss 
of lives. 

The friends of social order and national respectability, 
were not idle spectators of this accumulating danger. In 
accordance with a motion of James Madison, a proposal 
was made by Virginia, to all the other states, to meet in 
convention, for the purpose of digesting a form of govern- 
ment equal to the exigences of the Union. Delegates, 
from every state except Rhode Island, met in Philadelphia, 
„ on the 25th of May, chose general Washington 
president, and, after deliberating with closed doors 
until the 17th of September, agreed on a new plan of na- 
tional government. This, being transmitted to the state 
legislatures, was by them assigned to delegates, specially 
appointed in each, by the people, and, at length, but not 
Avithout considerable diversity of opinion, was adopted. 

When the people were examining the merits of this plan, 
its principle and arrangement were ably developed and de- 
fended in a series of essays, signed Publius. These, which 
now appear in a book entitled the Federalist, were written 
by three authors, (colonel) Alexander Hamilton, Mr. Jay, 
and Mr. Madison ; but the two latter furnished only a few 
papers ; nearly the whole being from the pen of Hamilton. 
This work may be ranked in the highest class of writings 
on the economy of government. The view which it af- 
fords of the several confederations, amongst the states of 
Greece and Germany, Switzerland and Holland, and of the 
constitution of Great Britain ; thereby displaying, in a lu- 
minous train of argument, the superiority of the American 
constitution ; renders it invaluable to the politician ; espe- 
cially, of the United States ; and places the Federalist in 
honourable competition with the labours of De Lolme, 
Montesquieu, and Blackstone. 

By the new constitution, all legislative powers are vest- 
ed in a congress of the United States, consisting of a pres- 
ident, a senate, and a house of representatives. 

The executive power is vested in the president ; who 
must be a natural born citizen, or have been a naturalized 
citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption 



209 HISTORY OF 

of this constitution ; of the age of thirty -five years, four- 
teen of which he must have resided within the country. 
He holds his office during the term of four years ; and, 
together with a vice-president, chosen for the same period, 
is appointed by electors, nominated according to regula- 
tions of the several states. The presidelit is commander 
in chief of the land and sea forces of the United States, 
and of the militia of the individual states when called into 
the general service. 

The senate is composed of two persons from each state; 
chosen, by its own legislature, for six years ; divided, after 
its assembling, as equally as possible, into three classes; of 
which, the seats of the first class are vacated at the end of 
the second year; those of the second, at the expiration of 
the fourth ; and those of the third class, at the termination 
of the sixth year. A senator must have attained the age 
of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United 
States. 

The house of representatives is composed of members 
chosen by ballot, w^ithout any reference to their property 
or their religion, every second year, in the several states; 
by electors having the same qualifications necessary to en- 
title them to vote for delegates to the most numerous 
branch of their respective state legislatures. No person 
can be a representative, who has not attained the age of 
twenty -five years; been seven years a citizen of the United 
States ; and who is not, when elected, an inhabitant of that 
state in which he shall have been chosen. The number of 
representatives must not exceed one for every thirty-thous- 
and of the population. 

The congress assemble at least once in every year; which 
meeting is fixed to be on the first Monday in December. 
Members of both housffs receive a compensation for their 
services, paid out of the treasury of the United States; and 
are privileged from arresi, during their attendance, or their 
journey, in all cases except treason, felony, and breach of 
the peace. 

No senator or representative can be appointed to any civil 
office, under the authority of the United States, which shall 
have been created, or the emoluments of which shall have 
been increased, during the term of his election; and no 
person holding any official situation in the general govern- 
ment can be a member of either house, during his continu- 
ance in office. 

Every bill, when it has passed the house of representa- 



THE UNITED STATES. 201 

lives and the senate, must, before it becomes a law, be car- 
ried to the president of the United States. If he approve, 
he shall sign it : but, if he disapprove, he sliall return it, 
with his objections, to that house in which it originated; 
where, it shall be re-considered. If two-thirds of the mem- 
bers shall then agree to pass the bill, it is sent, together 
with the objections, to the other house; by whom, likewise, 
it is to be re-considered ; and, if approved, by a similar 
majority, it becomes a law : or, if any bill shall not have 
been returned by the president within ten days after its 
presentation, it becomes a law, the same as if it had re- 
ceived his signature. 

Congress has power to lay and collect taxes, to pay the 
debts, and provide for the common defence and general 
welfare, of the United States ; to borrow money; to regu- 
late foreign commerce ; to establish a uniform system of 
naturalization ; to coin money, and fix the standard of 
weights and measures ; to establish post-offices and post- 
roads ; to declare war, grant letters of marque, raise and 
support armies, and provide and maintain a navy. 

No title of nobility can be granted, either by the united 
or the individual states ; nor can any person, holding a. 
public office, accept of any emokiment, employment, or 
title, from a foreign state, without the consent of congress. 

The United States guaranty to every member of this 
great political family a republican form of government ; 
and are bound to protect it against invasion, and against 
domestic violence. Provision is made for the occasional 
amending of the constitution ; to uphold which, all offici- 
ating persons are pledged, by oath or affirmation : but no 
religious test is ever required as a qualification to any 
office under the United States. 

The judicial power of the United States is vested in one 
supreme court, and in such district and circuit courts as 
congress shall think proper to erect. 

Thus, were established, two separate governments over 
the Union ; one, for local purposes, over each state, by the 
people, as citizens of each state; the other, for national 
purposes, over all the states, by the people, as citizens of 
the United States. 
, wgg Members of both branches of the legislature as- 
sembled, in the beginning of April, at New York ; 
where, they were, soon afterwards, joined by the former 
commander in chief: who, now in his fifty-seventh year, 
by the unanimous voice of the people, had again been cal'- 



202 HISTORY OF 

ed from his agricultural pursuits, and, with much reluc- 
tance, consented to act as president of the United States. 
On his way to the seat of government, one emotion of 
delightful recollections pervaded the whole community. 
When he had crossed the Delaware, and landed on the 
Jersey shore, he was saluted by the inhabitants with three 
cheers ; the spontaneous greetings of overflowing hearts ; 
more grateful to a patriot's ear, than the hired flourishes 
of a thousand trumpets. When he came to the brow of 
the hill, on his way to Trenton, he beheld, on the bridge 
which crosses the Assanpinck creek, a triumphal arch, 
erected under the superintendence of the ladies of the 
place. The crown of the arch was highly ornamented 
with flowers and laurels; and displayed, in large characters, 
in commemoration of the surprise of Trenton, " December 
26th, 1776: The Hero who defended the Mothers, will 
also protect the Daughters." On the north side, were little 
girls, dressed in white, with garlands on their heads, and 
baskets of flowers on their arms : in the second row, stood 
the young ladies, and behind them the matrons, of the 
neighbourhood. The instant when Washington passed 
flie arch, the children began to sing^the following ode: 

" Welcome, mighty chief, once more, 
welcome to this grateful shore: 
now, no mercenary foe 
aims again the fatal blow, 
aims at thee the fatal blow. 

" Virgins fair and matrons grave, 
(these, thy conquering arm did save,) 
build, for thee, iriumphal bovvers. — 
Strew, ye fair, his way with flowers, 
strew your hero's way with flowers."* 

The 30th of April was fixed for his taking the oath of 
©ffice : which was administered by Mr. Livingston, chan- 
cellor of the state of New York, in the presence of an im- 
mense concourse of citizens. When the president retired 
to the senate chamber, he addressed both houses in an im- 
pressive speech ; reminding them, that no truth was more 
thoroughly established, than that there exists an indissolu- 
ble union between virtue and happiness; — between duty 
and advantage ; between the genuine maxims of an honest 

* The author of this work, by using a capital letter only at the 
beginning of each sentence, has taken The liberty of varying- from the 
established mode of writing English poetic verse. 



THE UNITED STATES. 203 

and magnanimous people, and the solid rewards of public 
prosperity and felicity; and that the propitious smiles of 
Heaven could never be expected on a nation who disre- 
garded the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven 
itself had ordained. He concluded by saying, that, in con- 
formity with the principle he had adopted when command- 
er in chief, he renounced all pecuniary compensation for 
his presidential duties, firther than was equivalent to his 
additional expenditure m office : which should not, at any 
time, be greater than was required for the public good. 

The annual salary of the president was fixed at twenty- 
five-thousand dollars ; of the vice-president, secretary of 
state, and secretary of the treasury, each five-thousand 
the secretary of war was to receive foiir-thousand-five-hun- 
dred dollars ; and the attorney-general, three-thousand. 
John Adams was elected vice-president : the remaining 
great political departments were, by Washington's ap- 
pointment, filled, respectively, by Thomas Jefferson, colo- 
nel Hamilton, general Knox, and Edmund Randolph. John 
Jay received the office of chief justice : the associate judges 
were John Rutledge, James Wilson, John Gushing, Robert 
Harrison, and John Blair. 

The people of the United States now possessed the means 
of future happiness jn a more ample measure than were 
ever enjoyed by any other;— a constitution framed by their 
wisest and m.ost virtuous men, and approved by them- 
selves ; embracing all that was valuable, and excluding 
every thing that was found injurious, in the British form 
of government ; with deficiencies supplied, and superflui- 
ties retrenched; m which, merit was rewarded by election, 
and hereditary distinctions were unknown : a director sa- 
gacious to discern, able and determined to protect, the in- 
terest of society ; to repress the turbulent, and conciliate 
the discontented : a soil fertile to generate, and a climate 
suitable to mature, the various productions of the globe; 
stored with every mineral essential to the real wants of 
society, and with many required forits decoration : streams, 
which in one place perform the office of human labour, and 
in another facilitate the exchanges of foreign and domestic 
commerce. 

To replenish the empty treasury, was the first object of 
legislative attention. For this purpose, duties were levied 
on imported merchandise, and reasonable taxes imposed 
on the tonnage of vessels. The next, was the sup- 
port of public credit. In the month of January, 



204 HISTORY OF 

colonel Hamilton brought forward a system, luminous in 
its detail and ingenious in its application; perhaps the best 
that could be devised to unite the conflicting interests. His 
mode of funding the public debt, gave rise to much ani- 
mated discussion ; in which, James Madison proposed an 
amendment, more difficult in practice, and not less objec- 
tionable in its principle. Mr, Hamilton advocated a reduc- 
tion of the established interest ; Mr. Madison, a discrimi- 
nation between the original lender of money and the pres- 
ent holder of certificates. The principle of the secretary, 
however, and nearly his entire plan, were adopted ; fund- 
ing one part of the debts at three per cent. ; deferring the 
accruing of any interest on another portion, for ten years ; 
and limiting the highest rate of interest to six per cent. In 
this arrangement, besides fifty-four-millions of the general 
debt, were included twenty-one-millions-and-a-half of the 
debts of individual states ; confined to certificates issued 
above their just proportion, for general defence, during the 
revolutionary war. The assumption of the state debts re- 
quired additional revenue; and suggested the laying of du- 
ties on domestic distilled spirits ; a measure, which, while 
it increased the credit of the United States, had a serious 
effect on the tranquillity of particular sections. 

Notwithstanding the arguments that might justly be of- 
lered against the manner in which the public debts were 
funded ; the system was, on the whole, eminently benefi- 
cial to the country. Public paper, which had previously 
sunk in the proportion of ten to one, rapidly advanced to 
par; and, being now convenient for circulation, invigorated 
agriculture and commerce, to a degree not less than would 
have resulted from the introduction of an equal quantity of 
metallic coin. 

To complete the financial department, colonel Hamilton 
recommended the formation of a national bank. This meas- 
ure was strenuously opposed. Some objected to the utili- 
ty of any banking establishment ; others, to the plan of the 
one proposed : but more, to its institution, on the ground 
of the inadequate constitutional powers of congress ; on 
which, the legislature and the cabinet were divided. A 
law for the purpose having at length passed both houses, 
the president, who was extremely guarded against infring- 
ing the constitution, required from the heads of depart- 
ments their opinions on the subject ; and then, examining 
it in all its relations, deliberately gave it the sanction of his 
»arae. The bank was chartered for twenty years; its capi- 



THE UNITED STATES. ^m■ 

tal was ten millions, in shares of four-hundred dollars eacho 
The rights acquired by the subscribers were in so great dc-' 
mand, that they rose in a short time to two-hundred dol- 
lars advance on the first payment of twenty-five. Branches, 
termed offices of discount and deposit, Avere established in 
the principal sea-ports of the United States; the parent 
bank being placed in Philadelphia, at that time the seat of 
government. 

But the public blessings which we have been contem- 
plating, were not without alloy. The immense wealth ac- 
quired by individuals, from the increase in the value of 
property, and especially of the public stocks, made them 
objects of envy. Whilst the partisans of Hamilton, and 
those enriched by his plans, adored him as the financial sa- 
viour of the United States, others reviled him as the friend 
of monarchy, who wished to invest the government with 
artificial strength, by raising up a monied aristocracy, obe- 
dient to its will ; and, at the very time when the country 
was enjoying unexampled prosperity from the wise ad- 
ministration of an efficient government, its authors were 
loaded with execrations, by a large portion of their fellow- 
citizens. 

A criminal resistance was thus promoted to the payment 
of the excise duty on domestic spirits. This duty was par- 
ticularly obnoxious to those inhabitants of Pennsylvania 
who dwelt on the western side of the Alleghany 
mountains. A meeting of delegates from the mal- 
contents was held at Pittsburgh ; where, all v/ho should 
obey or execute the excise law, were proscribed as enemies 
to their country. Government was careful to remove all 
real grievances. In the following summer, the law was re- 
vised, and every reasonable objection canceled or amend- 
ed. But the amendment was unavailing. The very prin- 
ciple of excise was the object of hostility. A second meet- 
ing was convened ; in which, resolutions were adopted for 
1704, opposing the execution of the law: the marshal, 
when in the performance of his duty, was shot at by 
a party of armed men ; and, on the following day, the iii- 
surgents, to the number of five-hundred, attacked the house 
of the inspector, and forced him, together with a small 
military guard, to surrender. 

Sensations the most distressing pervaded the breast of 

general Washington. Humanity restrained the avenging 

sword of justice, in one hand ; whilst the solemn obliga- 

4:ions of duty directed his attention to the balance, in the 

18 



206 HISTORY OF 

other. He detennined to execute the laws ; and, by eni-' 
ploying an army sufficient, from its numbers, to make re- 
sistance desperate. The utmost force the insurgents could 
bring into the field, was supposed to be seven-thousand. 
A requisition was accordingly made, to the governors of 
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, for an 
aiTny of fifteen-thousand. The militia turned out with un- 
common alacrity. The troops of New Jersey and Penn- 
sylvania rendezvoused at Bedford ; those of Maryland and 
Virginia, at Cumberland, on the Potomac. The president 
visited each division, and left the whole under the com- 
mand of general (late colonel) Lee, now governor of Vir- 
ginia. He marched into the disturbed country ; but found 
no armed bodies of the insurgents : the greatness of the 
force produced the desired effect, and restored tranquilli- 
ty, without bloodshed. 

Whilst the extremity of Pennsylvania was thus suffering 
from the virulence of human passion, its capital was afflict- 
ed with a melancholy visitation of Providence. In the year 
1793, Philadelphia was ravaged by the awful effects of a 
yellow fever. It commenced in the beginning of August, 
and continued for about three months; during which time, 
there died four-thousand, out of a population of sixty-thous- 
and, by that disorder alone. Its greatest height was about 
the middle of October; when, one-hundred-and-twenty per- 
sons were carried off in a single day. Many fled to the 
country: the usual vocations of society were abandoned. 
The streets became a desert. Distress appeared in every 
form. In the midst, hov.ever, of this calamity, much be- 
nevolence was shown. A committee took charge of the 
sick poor, and provided them with a house, medicine, and 
attendance : and the orphans were collected in a place of 
safety; where, they were nursed, fed, and furnished with 
every comfort. About the middle of November, the dis- 
order ceased; the citizens returned; and business reassum- 
ed its course. Since that period, a similar species of fever 
has, at intervals, appeared in Philadelphia, and other com- 
mercial cities in the United States; particularly, in New 
York, Baltimore, Charleston, Savannah, and New Orleans: 
but, from the precautionary measures of the several boards 
of health, malignant fevers, for nearly the last twenty years, 
are almost unknown in any of the towns situated to the 
north of Charleston. 

Amongst the distinguished individuals during that ca- 
lamitous season, the most conspicuous was Benjamin Rush ; 



THE UNITED STATES. 2Q7 

whether we consider his humanity, his fearless conduct 
aniidst the appalling scenes of contagion, or the skill with 
which he combated the destructive antagonist. This ac- 
complished physician, already khown as an active member 
of that congress which voted the independence of his coun- 
try, Avas a native of Pennsylvania. He was born about 
twelve miles from Philadelphia ; the third in descent from 
English ancestors, who accompanied William Penn. His 
classical education was completed at Princeton ; his medi- 
eal, in the celebrated school of Edinburgh. Ambitious, at 
an early age, to excel in his profession, he registered, in a 
common-place book, every occurrence worthy of remem- 
brance. Great was the benefit derived from his juvenile 
record. To that journal, happily commenced in his eigh- 
teenth year, he had recourse, at the age of fifty, for the on- 
ly account then extant of a malignant fever which prevail- 
ed in Philadelphia in the year 1762 ; thereby, preserving 
valuable information as to its general symptoms, and the 
most effective mode of resisting its effects. In cases of an 
alarming or desperate nature, his decisions were firm, and 
his practice intrepid. He not unfrequentiy lost credit, for 
a time, in subduing sickness, and saving life, by remedies 
that were not approved by his connexions or his friends. 
This trait in his character, Dr. Rush now strikingly display- 
ed. His house, although itself the abode of sickness, was 
the resort of thouSiiiKh> v/hcm h^ v/:is "r.C^ole to visit at 
their dwellings. Their confidence was not misplaced. He 
devised a mode of treatment, which tended greatly to over- 
come the malignant power of the disease: and, devothig 
himself entirely to the service of the aiiiicted, he remain *1 
at his post until the mortality ceased ; although he himself 
had been a subject of its attack, and many of the faculty 
had sought an asylum in the country. His professional 
works are contained in five volumes; entitled. Medical In- 
quiries and Observations ; and a sixth volume, composed 
of introductory lectures.* 

Two new states had now been admitted as members of 
the great federal government, — Vermont and Kentucky. 
Vermont was fcjrmed into an independent community 
against much opposition, and received into the Union in 
1791. Ovv^ing to British acts of parliament, inconsistent 
with each other, tlie soil was claimed by several adjacent 
states ; particularly, by New York. Civil war between the 

* Dv. Rush died, after a short illness, in the vcar 1813. 



^08 HISTORY OF 

parties was repeatedly approached; but hostilities were re- 
strained by the paternal advice of Washington, and finally 
prevented by the eloquence of Alexander Hamilton ; who 
induced New York to acquiesce in the demand of Vermont 
for independence. — Kentucky owes its political existence to 
the liberal spirit of Virginia. It was a part of this province, 
until she authorized and encouraged the former in the es- 
tablishment of a separate government, to be organized by 
the free voice of its own inhabitants. This was according- 
ly done, in the year 1785; and, in 1792, it was admitted 
into the Union, on equal terms with its indulgent parent. 
Kentucky was known, at an early period, by the French ; 
but v/as long carefully hidden from the knowledge of the 
British colonies. In 1714, Mr. Spotswood, governor of 
Virginia, made a journey to the Alleghany mountains ; as- 
certained the practicability of crossing them ; and, from 
heir lofty summits, beheld the beautiful v/estern plains 
comprehended within his jurisdiction. Hunters and Indian 
traders, before and afterwards, had occasionally traversed 
them ; but James M'Bride was the first white person that 
visited the country with a view of settling-. In 1754, he 
curved bis name on a tree, as an evidence of his taking pos- 
session. The French war, however, which immediately 
follov/ed, prevented the execution of his design. The ear- 
liest permanent settlement was made by colonel Daniel 
liGor, ; wnc, 'wll^h L fcv; companions, explored it in 1769. 
But this little colony, meeting with nothing but harusitipS) 
grew exceedingly disheartened. They were plundered, dis- 
persed, or killed, by the wandering Indians; except Boon 
l.imself, who continued a solitary inhabitant of the wilder- 
ness, until the year 1771. The colonel was not easily dis- 
couraged. He returned to this fertile region, accompanied 
by forty families of Powell's Valley ; who, in 1773, were 
the whole population of Kentucky. The oldest settlement 
is Boonsborough. Lexington was commenced in 1782. 
This country was never inhabited by the Indians: it was 
only known to them by the name of the Dark and Bloody 
Ground ; being claimed by various tribes, whose titles, if 
they had any, were so obscure, as to render it doubtful to 
which nation it belonged ; and hence, it became a theatre 
of war, and the residence only of wild beasts. Its progress 
in population and general improvement, almost exceeds 
belief. The annals of colonization do not, as far as our in- 
formation extends, aiford any previQus instance of similar 
^dvajicement. 



THE UNITED STATES. 209 

The extension of settleftients beyond the Ohio, was much 
retarded by the hostile disposition of the Indians. Com- 
pelled, through necessity, to make a seeming relinquish- 
ment of those lands, on which they had drawn their earliest 
breath, and ranged, undisturbed, in pursuit of their favourite 
game, the untutored children of the forest, like the sophis- 
ticated politicians of the eastern world, adhered to their 
agreements no longer than they were constrained by inter- 
est or fear. The Indians were now a formidable people. 
They had been instructed by the French in the use of fire- 
arms, iron tomahawks, and swords ; and had acquired con- 
siderable knowledge of their discipline. In natural cour- 
age, they were never deficient : though, in bodily strength, 
they were inferior to the Virginians, and other descendants 
of Europeans ; especially, to those who inhabited the hilly 
country of the west. 

In the south, the Creek Indians, whose fighting men 
amounted to six-hundred, under M'Gillivray, the son of a 
white man, had been at war with Georgia: peace, however, 
was restored there, in 1790, in consequence of a treaty sign- 
ed by that chieftain, at New York. Pacific overtures, made 
to the north-western Indians, were rejected. In the follow- 
ing year, fourteen-hundred men, of whom three-hundred 
were regulars, and the remainder militia from Kentucky 
and Pennsylvania; the whole under the command of gene- 
ral Harmar; were sent to destroy their settlements on the 
Scioto and the Wabash ; but the militia being panic-struck, 
the expedition was defeated, with the loss of three-hundred- 
and-sixty men killed. The next attempt against these peo- 
ple, was still more disastrous. General St. Clair, at that 
time governor of the Avestern territory, being placed at the 
head of two-thousand militia and regulars, proceeded to 
destroy the Indian villages on the Miami, and expel the 
inhabitants from that country : but, owing to the shameful 
conduct of the militia, he was completely routed, by an in- 
ferior number of the enemy ; who killed, in the battle and 
during the retreat, thirty-eigh^ officers and nearly six-hun- 
dred privates. Amongst the dead, was the gallant general 
Butler: amongst the wounded, were colonels Gibson and 
Darke, major Butler and adjutant Sargent; officers of dis- 
tinguished merit. Seldom, had the Americans experienced 
so severe a loss ; and never from an enemy so contemptible 
in number. St. Clair, having resigned, was succeeded by 
general Wayne; who, in September, 1793, reached the 
ground where that officer had been defeated, erected a fort, 
18* 



210 HISTORY OF 

to which, he gave the name of Recovery, and made every 
preparation for advancing against the Indian settlements 
early in the following year. On the 20th of August, after 
his ineffectually endeavouring to negotiate a peace, a gene- 
ral engagement ensued near the Miami. The Indians 
amounted to about two-thousand ; the American army, to 
three-thousand: of whom, two-thirds were regulars, and the 
remainder mounted militia, from Kentucky, commanded 
by general Scott. 

The action was decisive : the Indians were completely 
routed. General Wayne drove the Indians out of the coun- 
try, and erected forts in the midst of their late settlements, 
to prevent their return. 

In the year after, Wayne concluded, at Greenville, treat- 
ies with the hostile Indians north-west of the Ohio ; by 
which, peace was established, on terms mutually satisfac- 
tory and beneficial. A humane system now commenced 
for amelioraiing their condition. They were, henceforth, 
protected by the United States from the impositions and 
incursions of lawless white people; taught the use of the 
loom ; and encouraged in the pursuits of agriculture : meas- 
ures reflecting high praise on colonel Hawkins, who was 
amongst the first to execute the benevolent intentions, orig- 
inally projected by the humane spirit of general Washing- 
ton. 



CHAPTER IX. 

FRENCH REVOLUTION. 

K}7iori IVar ivith France. Jay^s treaty ivith Great Britain. 
Death of General Washington. 

WHILST the administration were employed in quelling 
the refractory, and restraining the inroads of a subtle enemy, 
within the bosom of the country, they were unexpectedly 
involved in a foreign war, by the great political convulsions 
of Europe. Emboldened by the success of the American 
revolution, the people of France had proceeded in their en- 
deavours to obtain freedom, until they had deprived their 
unhappy monarch of his sceptre, and finally of his life ; and 
were now contending, single-handed, against the surround- 
ing states. Ii> this situation, the French Directory turned 



THE UNITED STATES. 2U 

their eyes towards America, and demanded, in the friend- 
ship and assistance of the emancipated colonies, a return for 
the aid rendered them by Louis; an aid given by a sovereign 
whom they had deposed ; whose interest was unconnected 
with his people's : and that the United States would violate 
the bond of peace, the attainment of which was the only 
merit claimed by their former allies. The minister ap- 
pointed by their fallen monarch having been recalled from 
the United States, M. Genet, was sent over in his place. 
This envoy treated the American republic more like a 
tributary vassal, than a country holding a high rank amongst 
independent nations. In a few days after his landing, which 
was at Charleston, he undertook to authorize the arming of 
vessels in that port, and the enlisting of men ; giving com- 
missions, in the name of the* French government, to cruise 
at sea, and commit hostilities on land, against nations with 
whom the United States were at peace. The British min- 
ister remonstrated. The president, before the arrival of 
Genet, had determined on the Vvae he should pursue; which 
was, a strict neutrality ; and issued the proper orders for 
defeating the unwarrantable interference of tlie French am- 
bassador. A large body of the people, however, were at 
this time, favourable to the French encroachments ; — some, 
enlightened men, who v/ere willing to sacrifice every thing, 
to aid a country struggling for liberty against a world in 
arms; many, through a desire of profit; and more, through 
ignorance, — -anxious to repay an obligation, yet unable to 
discover to whom they were indebted. Encouraged by 
these generous feelings, Genet designed a measure unex- 
ampled in the page of history. Ke threatened an appeal 
to the people. They, only, he declared, and not the dele- 
gated authorities, possessed the sovereignty, in a demo- 
cratic state. This appeal offended and alarmed all who 
felt for the hdnour and independence of their country. 
The president requested that he should be recalled ; and 
he was accordingly superseded. His successors were less 
violent in their deportment, but nearly similar in their de- 
signs. F.very day gave indications of an open rupture. 
Not contented with seizing enemies' property when found 
on board vessels of the United States, the French Directo- 
ry authorized the indiscriminate capture of all vessels sail- 
ing under their flag ; demanded a large sum of money, as 
the price of a negotiation ; and ordered general Pinckney 
and Mr. Marshall, two envoys from the American govern- 
Hient, to quit the territories of France. 



312 HISTORY OF 

In the meantime, general Washington, having 
completed a double period of his magisterial duties, 
was succeeded by John Adams, the late vice-president; the 
office of the latter being filled by Thomas Jefferson, secre- 
tary of state. 

When those events were known in the United States, they 
excited the keenest and most extensive indignation. The 
ardour of their infantile years was rekindled ; the rancour of 
party was suspended. " Millions for defence, but not a 
cent for tribute," resounded throughout the Union. Au- 
thority was given for capturing French armed vessels. 
Two severe and well fought actions took place in the West 
India seas ; the first, between the American frigate Con- 
stellation, of thirty-eight guns, commanded by com- 
modore Truxton, and the French frigate, LTnsur- 
gente, of forty; the second, between the Constellation, and 
La Vengeance of fifty guns. LTnsurgente was captured; 
but La Vengeance, after having struck, escaped in the night, 
by reason of the disabled state of her antagonist. 

Addresses poured in upon the president, from every 
section of the Union ; promising him the most efficient 
support. A military resistance being determined on, all 
eyes were again turned towards their beloved Washington; 
as the man, who, more than any other, could draw into the 
public service the best military talents, and the whole nat- 
ural strength, of the country. He obeyed the call, and 
accepted the charge of organizing the army, and directing 
its operations. What could not be effected by negotiation, 
was accomplished by the conduct of an heroic soldier. 
When supplicating, America was insulted ; when armed, 
she was respected. France soon intimated a desire for 
peace. Envoys were, accordingly, sent to Paris ; where, 
they found the Directory overthrown, and the government 
in the hands of Buonaparte, with the title'of first consul. 
The ambassadors were now received with the respect due - 
to their character and country ; all disputes were speedily 
adjusted, and, shortly afterwards, a new treaty between the 
two nations was concluded. 

To the prudent neutrality which the American govern- 
ment maintained, whilst, for a long series of years, the sev- 
eral kingdoms of Europe were involved, by their indiscre- 
tion, in a destructive war, may be attributed the greater 
part of the wealth gained by the present merchants of the 
United States; the increase and experience of her seamen; 



THE UNITED STATES. 213 

the improved skill of her mechanics, and the unrivaled 
prosperity of her farmers. 

But there was still another power, the great antagonist 
of France, with which, disputes, of not less importance, 
had to be adjusted. This was Great Britain. Although, 
since the definitive treaty of Paris, there occurred no open 
hostilities between England and the United States, yet they 
were far from being on terms of perfect amity and recon- 
ciliation. Soon after the termination of the revolutionary 
contest, the two countries charged each other with having 
violated that treaty ; a charge, which, though reciprocally 
denied, was reciprocally proved. The British had stipu- 
lated that they would not carry off or destroy the negroes, 
or other property, of the Americans. But the greatest 
vigilance, and the purest intentions, could not have secured 
the entire fulfilment of this agreement. Good faith to the 
blacks produced an infraction of contract with the whites ; 
for, many of the former, being in possession of freedom, in 
consequence of their having joined the royal standard, 
could not, on any principle of English law, be delivered as 
slaves to their American masters. One failure produced 
another. The Americans had agreed to pay the British 
merchants all debts contracted before the war, without any 
impediment, in sterling money. This stipulation was very 
generally infringed. Some were prevented from fulfilling 
their engagements by the loss of their negroes, and the 
consequent non-cultivation of their lands ; others, by the 
unjust measures of the individual states, compelling the 
acceptance of depreciated paper, in place of coin. The evil 
did not terminate with these. The non-payment, on the 
part of the Americans, of their mercantile debts, was as- 
signed by Great Britain as a reason for retaining the mili- 
tary posts on the south side of the lakes, which form the 
northern boundary of the United States. In this unsettled 
posture of affairs. Great Britain became opposed to France 
in the great continental war, which has already been a sub- 
ject of our notice. As France was then generally beloved 
in the United States, and England proportionably hated, 
the hostile feeUng that before existed was thenceforth in- 
creased; not only from the previous excitement, but from 
new causes, arising from the war. The Americans had 
become the shipping carriers of France; and, adhering to 
their fLivourite principle, that '' free ships make free goods," 
were indignant at the frequent searches, as well as captures 
of their vessels, and of French property on board. But of 



2-U HISTORY OF 

this conduct, the American merchants could, in justice, 
only partially complain. By the treaty which ended the 
revolutionary war, the search of their vessels, and the 
seizure of enemies' property on board, were formally per- 
mitted : notwithstanding, that, by a previous agreement 
between the United States and France, a contrary principle 
was sanctioned, as regarded the relations of the latter. 

As an ultimate resource for the preservation of peace, 
Mr. Jay, chief-justice of the United States, was deputed (in 
1794, by general Washington) envoy extraordinary to Lon- 
don. A treaty was the result of this mission, in the ensuing 
year. But, though more was now yielded than at any former 
period of the negotiation, the concessions, on the part of 
England, were much less, and, on the part of the United 
States, much greater, than were pleasing to the majority of 
the American people. The posts were given up, and com- 
pensation was made for several of the illegal captures. Their 
favourite maxim, however, that "free ships make free 
goods," was abandoned, and the seq^rch of their merchant 
vessels admitted. The United-States agreed to pay six- 
hundred-thousand pounds sterling to the British govern- 
ment, in trust for the English creditors of the Americans, 
for all remaining claims of individuals of the one nation 
against individuals of the other: thus, settling all grounds 
of controversy emanating from the revolution. 

The happiness arising from the accommodation with the 
French, was more general; but it was mingled with a re- 
cent grief, that checked the full expression of public feel- 
ing. Washington, than whom, though none was ever more 
alert in war, none more sincerely cherished the benign 
sentiments of peace, was not allowed to partake in the 
general joy. Before accounts arrived of this amicable ad- 
justment, he ceased to be numbered with the living. 

He had received a slight sprinkling of rain, whilst at- 
tending some improvements at Mount Vernon. In the fol- 
lowing night, he was seized with an inflammation in his 
throat ; shortly afterwards followed by fever and difiiculty 
of breathing. He was, at that time, bled ; but would not 
allow his family physician to be called before day. Dr. Craik 
arrived about eleven, and, by his recommendation, was 
soon joined in consultation by two other physicians. But 
their united powers were unavailing. On the 14th of De- 
cember, in about twenty-four hours from the time of his 
usual health, he expired, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. 

The equanimity which attended him through life, did 



THE UNITED STATES. :215 

not forsake him on his death-bed. He submitted, to the 
inevitable stroke, with the becoming firmness of a man, the 
calmness of a philosopher, the resignation and confidence of 
a Christian. When conviiiced that his dissolution was fast 
approaching, he requested leave to die without farther in- 
terruption : then, undressed himself, went tranquilly to bed, 
and, having placed himself in a suitable attitude, soon af- 
terwards closed his eyes with his own hands, and yielded up 
his spirit without a struggle. 

As no pencil has been able correctly to delineate the 
impressive dignity of his countenance; nor any chisel, the 
majestic figure of his person; so, no pen can fully concen- 
trate the transcendent qualities of his mind, or the amiable 
dispositions of his heart. The history of his country is his 
best eulogium ; his most faithful monument, the love and 
admiration of the world. 

The same Providence which guided the affairs of the 
revolution, and, in the agency of Washington, raised man 
almost above his accustomed rank in the creation, withdrew 
his favourite production, when human talent, or human 
virtue, was no longer sufficient to preserve the tranquillity, 
or retain the veneration, of his country. The pages of fu- 
turity, if then unfolded, would have reversed the deep sen- 
sations of regret; by changing into thankfulness, the un- 
equaled feelings caused by a departure, at an age that 
promised many years of 'happiness to himself, and benefit 
to his country. 

The mind of the great Washington was not more solici- 
tous for the welfare of the nation, than for the comfort of 
the poor. His charities, whilst given with a discerning, 
were diffused with an unsparing, hand. On each of his 
plantations, a corn-house was every year filled, solely for 
their use ; on one of his best fishing-shores, he kept, in 
complete order for them, a boat and net; and men ready to 
help those who were themselves too weak to haul the seine: 
and, so feelingly attentive was he to any poor persons who 
wished to speak to him, he had a room set apart for them; 
and, if in company with the most distinguished characters, 
he instimtly begged a few moments' absence, and attended 
the distressed. 

General Washington had never any offspring. In his 
twenty-seventh year, he had married Mrs. Custis ; a lady, 
who, to a handsome person and large fortune, added every 
accom])lishment that contributes to the felicity of the con- 
nubial state. To Mrs. Washington, his domestic partner 



216 HISTORY OF 

for forty years, he bequeathed, dming her Hie, Moudi 
Vernon, and a considerable share of his extensive lands; 
which, on her decease, were to become the property of liis 
nephew, Bushrod Washington. To his brother Charles, 
he left only a memorial of his affection; in consideration of 
the am.ple provision made by him for his children. Mrs. 
Washington's grand-children were remembered as his 
own ; every branch of his numerous relatives, and many 
charitable institutions, experienced the liberality of his 
heart. He directed that his negroes should be emancipated, 
after Mrs. Washington's decease ; lamenting that impedi- 
ments insurmountable had prevented his liberating them 
before : he provided for the support and education of the 
young on his plantations, and for the maintenance of the 
©Id and infirm. 



CHAPTER X. 

FOUNDING OF WASHINGTON. 

Removal of the seat of govermnent to the neiv ca/iitai^ 
Washington. War with Trifioli, Tennessee. Ohio. 
Purchase of Louisiana. Trial of Aaron Burr. 

IT had been strongly advised by Washington, that the 
seat of government should be removed to a place more 
convenient for the general interest of the United States, 
than either New York or Philadelphia. Accordingly, at 
the second session after the formation of the new federal 
government, his recommendation was considered with 
merited attention, and adopted. A territory, ten miles on 
every side, now called the District of Columbia, having 
been ceded, for this purpose, by Virginia and Maryland, a 
city, bearing the name of the illustrious protector of his 
country, was founded on the Potomac, in that portion given 
by the latter. The ancient laws of the ceded territory 
were secured to the respective divisions ; and the sove- 
reign authority of the District was vested in the general 
congress. In 1800, the public offices were removed from 
Philadelphia (the seat of the federal government for the 
preceding ten years) to the infant capital; in which, mag- 
nificent buildings had been erected for their accommoda- 
tion ; and congress met there in December. 



THE UNITED STATES. 2\7 

, - .\t the usual period before the completion of the 

prcsicjcntial term of clutj', John Adams was again 
a candidate, but was successfully opposed by Thomas Jef- 
ferson ; the vice-president elected being Aaron Burr. 

llurniony now subsisted between the United States and 
the great European powers. But anew scene of vexation, 
and evc!\tually of war, arose, from the piracies of the Barba- 
ry states. The disputes which had, for some time, existed^ 
^\ith the tributary princes of the Turkish empire, Tunis, 
Algiers, and Morocco, were settled by treaty, without the 
occurrence of any remarkable event. But there remained 
another of these barbarian freebooters, with whom a simi- 
lar adjustment was impracticable, until chastised, in some 
degree, to submission. 

The bashaw of Tripoli, having dismissed the American 
consul, and threatened speedy depredations on the Ameri- 
can commerce, unless certain demands of tribute were con- 
ceded ; on the refusal of the United States to comply with 
these degrading terms, proceeded to the execution of his 
threats. Several vessels were accordingly captured. But 
these insults were not suffered to remain long unavenged. 
The navy of the United States, though small in number, 
was not deficient in activity and courage. Captain Sterret, 
in the schooner Enterprise, fell in with a Tripolitan 
cruiser, off Malta. A desperat eengagement ensu- 
ed. It was, in the first instance, continued several hours, 
when the Tripolitan hauled down her colours. The crew 
of the Enterprise, quitting their guns, gave three cheers ; 
whereupon, the faithless pirate fired a broadside into the 
American, hoisted her flag, and renewed the action with ad- 
ditional ferocity. But she was soon, again, overcome, and 
ordered under the quarters of the Enterprise. Here, she a 
second time re-commenced the contest, by pouring a broad- 
side into her antagonist ; at the same time, hoisting the 
bloody flag, and making strenuous attempts to board. The 
indignation of a generous enemy was now raised to the ut- 
most pitch. — " Fight on, and sink the perfidious villains to 
the bottom," exclaimed the American commander. — " Sink 
her to the bottom," vociferated his enraged companions.— 
A position was taken which enabled them to rake her fore- 
and-aft. Her mizen mast was shot away ; her sides, open- 
ed by well-directed shots, admitted overwhelming torrents 
from the sea; her commander, throwing his colours over- 
board, implored for mercy. The supplication was not made 
in vain. Contempt, having quelled thQ infuriated breast, 
19 



218 HISTORY OF 

allowed the wretches the unmerited rights of civilized war- 
fare. His instructions not permitting him to capture the 
vanquished corsair, captain Sterret ordered her crew to • 
throw her guns into the sea ; and, having paid every atten- . 
lion to the wounded Tripolitans that humanity could dic- 
tate, he ordered their vessel to be dismantled. Her remain- ' 
ing masts were cut down: a spar was erected, to which was 
hung, as a flag, a tattered sail ; and, in this condition, she 
was sent into Tripoli, as an awful specimen of what might 
be expected from a nation determined to pay tribute only 
in powder and ball. The reception of her treacherous com- 
mander was in conformity with the sentiments of his barba- 
rian chief: he was punished, not for his perfidy, but for his 
defeat. Mounted on a jack-ass, he was paraded through 
the town, as an object of public scorn, and afterwards, chas- 
tised, with five-hundred bastinadoes. 

In the course of the year, the United States sent three 
frigates and a sloop of war into the Mediterranean, under j 
commodore Dale. On his arrival, he blockaded the port of \s 
Tripoli ; by which means, the piratical vessels being con- 
fined within their harbours, the American commerce was 
effectually secured from molestation. In the following 
year, commodore Murray, when cruising off Tripoli in the 
frigate Constellation, was attacked, during a calm, by a 
formidable number of gun -boats ; but, dashing in amongst 
them, he obliged them to retire in confusion and dismay. 

The next naval occurrence excites considerable re- 
gret; not, however, as proceeding from misconduct, 
but from unavoidable misfortune. Determined on vigorous 
measures against Tripoli, the government of the United 
States despatched to the Mediterranean, a squadron of sev- 
en sail, — the Philadelphia and Constitution, each of forty- 
four, with the Argus and Syren, the Nautilus, Enterprise, 
and Vixen, of from fourteen to eighteen guns each ; under 
the command of commodore Preble. The Philadelphia, 
commanded by captain Bainbridge, when returning from a 
fruitless chase, ran upon a rock, not laid down in any known 
chart ; distant about five miles from the town of Tripoli, 
To lighten the vessel, all her cannon were thrown over- 
board, except a few, on the upper deck, reserved as a de- 
fence against the gun-boats, which were fast advancing to 
attack her. The foremast was cut away, every art was 
tried to get her off; but all proved unavailing. Her situa- 
tion was awfully distressing. Not a ray of hope appeared, 
to lessen, even by fallacious expectation, the terror of ap- 



THE UNITED STATES. 2iy 

proaching bondage ; a bondage more dreaded by her in- 
dignant crew, than immediate death. Assailed on all sides, 
deprived of every means of effectual resistance, the Phila- 
delphia was compelled to strike her colours, was taken pos- 
session of by the Tripolitans, and her officers and crew, 
amounting to three-hundred, were made prisoners. 

This victory, which accident, not valour, had given to 
the barbarians, was, in the following summer, in a great 
measure, regained. Whatever anticipations of future ben- 
efit the Tripolitan chief was enabled to enjoy, in the con- 
templation of individual ransom, he was not long allowed 
the pleasure of beholding the recent accession to his navy. 
A young officer in the American squadron, conceived the 
design of retaking, or, at least, of destroying, the captured 
frigate ; which had been towed off by the enemy, and was 
then lying at anchor within the harbour. Lieutenant Ste- 
phen Decatur, the projector of the intended enterprise, 
having submitted his plan to the commodore, and received 
his approbation, performed the daring service with that 
gallantry and judgment, which have, subsequently, in more 
important actions, gained him the respect and admiration 
of his country. Furnished with a small schooner, the In- 
trepid, and seventy men, he sailed from Syracuse, and, 
1 9n^ under a neutral flag, appeared off Tripoli on the 
16th of February, accompanied by the brig Syren; 
which vessel was directed to remain in a convenient station, 
for the purpose, if required, of covering a retreat. When 
within two-hundred yards of his object, Decatur was hailed, 
and ordered to anchor, on the peril of being sunk. His pilot 
replied, that her anchors were lost, and carried the schooner 
to within fifty yards of the frigate ; where she was becalmed. 
Decatur warped up his vessel, laid her alongside, sprang 
on board, followed by his determined crew; rushed, sword- 
in-hand, upon the Tripolitans, soon overcame them, and, 
amidst a tremendous assault, from two corsairs and the bat- 
teries on shore, set fire to the Philadelphia, and, with his 
brave companions, retired. 

For the intrepidity and skill displayed in this bold enter- 
prise, Decatur was advanced to the rank of post-captain. 

From the 3d to the 29th of August, Preble made three 
general attacks on the Tripolitan batteries; all conduct- 
ed with admirable gallantry, and producing a correspond- 
ent effect. In the first engagement, lieutenant Decatur, 
brother of the captain, was killed ; but, on the whole, the 
loss was trifling. In another, the American vessels, fired 



220 HISTORY Ol 

a-hundred-aud-twenty rounds each, and sunk several gnin- 
boats and a polacre. The Tripoiitan force, on this occa- 
sion, was very great. They had in the harbour twenty-four 
armed vessels, a-hundred-and-fifteen guns on the batteries^ 
and, besides the inhabitants, forty-iive-thousand Arabs to 
defend the city. 

But these long-continued demonstrations of heroic reso- 
lution, were not sufficient to break the fetters of captivity, 
nor lessen the rigours of barbarian insolence. The prison- 
ers were treated w^th atrocious cruelty. They encountered 
cold and hunger, labour, menaces, and stripes: they were 
chained to loaded carts, and, like oxen, compelled to drag | 
them through the town. Every remonstrance made by 
captain Bainbridge in behalf of liis companions, was un-i 
heeded ; every eflbrt to mitigate their sufferings, unsuc- 
cessful. Som.e new experin"ient was imperiously demanded. 
Il was, therefore, resolved by the x\mcrican ministry, to 
try another enterprise ; in order to gain the liberation of 
the prisoners, and a speedy and honourable peace. This 
was, a co-operation with Hamet,the ex-bashaw of Tripoli; 
who had been driven from the government, by the usurpa- 
tion of his younger brother. Accordingly, William Eaton^ 
of Massachusetts, who had been, for many years, American, 
consul at Tunis, was despatched, to communicate the pro- 
ject to Hamet, and make arrangements for its execution. 
Eaton performed his part with distinguished lustre. After 
much embarrassment, he effected an interview with the 
exiled sovereign, in Upper Egypt; Avhere he had associ- 
ated w^ith an army of Mamelukes, at war with the Turkish 
government. Hamct was well pleased wuth the scheme of 
the Americans, and appointed Eaton commander of the 
forces destined for its accomplishment; an event that would 
restore Hamet to his throne. It was designed to penetrate 
by land into the Tripoiitan dominions; with whatever force 
could be mustered amongst the partisans of Hamet, sup- 
ported by as many Americans, and other Christians, as felt 
for the distresses of the imprisoned seamen. On the 6th 
of March, general Eaton, accompanied by Hamet, 
^ with three-hundred well-mounted Arabs, seventy- 
Christians, and about a hundred camels laden with baggage 
and provisions, began his march from Alexandria; and, 
yfler fifty-two days, spent in traversing a hideous desert of 
five-hundred miles, during which, all the dangers and per- 
severance related in romance seemed realized, he arrived 
before Derna, a city in the regency of Tripoli. 



THE UNITED STATES. 221 

An army, sent by the reigning bashaw, was hastening to 
its relief; and was then*within one clay's march of the town. 
No time was therefoi;;^ to be lost. Eaton summoned it to 
surrender. The governor returned an answer of defiance. 
An assault was made on the next day; when, after a com- 
bat of two hours and a half, supported, on the water side, 
by part of the American squadron, the town was carried 
by the bayonet. The Christians suffered severely in the 
action ; nearly a third of their number were killed, and 
Eaton himself was wounded. 

On the 18th of May, the Tripolitans advanced, with the 
design of recovering the captured city: but, after a contest 
of four hours, in which the Christians engaged the barba- 
rians in the proportion of one to a hundred, the latter has- 
tily retreated behind the mountains. On the 10th of June, 
a general battle again occurred ; the American vessels a 
second time co-operated, and galled the enemy by a well- 
directed fire. It lasted nearly five hours, and ended in the 
farther overthrow of the assailants. 

The brilliant progress of general Eaton promised the 
most glorious and beneficial result. But the fruits of his 
achievement were blasted, before they reached maturity. 
The object which had been pursued by arms, was suddenly 
attained by treaty; a mode always to be preferred, when it 
involves no diminution of national character; always to be 
shunned, when there is a sacrifice of honour. This ar- 
rangement, made with the reigning bashaw, by Mr. Lear, 
and ratified in the United States, obtained the release of 
the prisoners for the sum of sixty-thousand dollars ; and 
engaged that the Americans, in withdrawing their forces, 
should use their influence to induce Hamet to retire. 

The state of Massachusetts was not forgetful of the war- 
rior of Derna. Whilst congress were debating whether 
general Eaton should be rewarded by a stvord^ or by a 
jnedal^ his countrymen displayed a becoming liberality, in 
toting him ten-thousand acres of land. 

Fostered by the parental nature of the government, emi- 
grations from the European v/orid continued to increase. 
New manufactures were introduced into the United States; 
the sciences were annually spreading. Hardy labourers 
from Germany and Ireland assisted in giving strength to 
the republic, by an important addition to its numbers. The 
axe every where resounded through the western forests, 
and new communities sought association with the old. 
Since we noticed the establishment of Kentucky, two other 
19* 



222 HISTORY OF 

states were joined in the federal constitution, — Tennessee 
and Ohio ; formed out of the anodent dominions of the 
Union. In 1789, North Carolina had ^^signed to the United 
States a large tract of her western lands. This country 
■was called the southern territory, and erected by congress 
into a separate government, on the same plan as the north- 
western. In 1794, its inhabitants, having amounted to 
thirty -thousand, sent a delegate to congress, who, by law, 
was allowed a seat in the lower house, with a right of de- 
bating, but not of voting ; and, in two years afterwards, it 
was erected into a state, called Tennessee, and admitted to 
a full participation in the advantages of the Union. Ohio, 
a portion of the territory westward of Pennsylvania, became 
a member of the general government in the year 1802; 
under the first American constitution, that declared, ex- 
plicitly, against the practice of holding slaves ; in conform- 
ity with a restriction humanely imposed, by congress, upon 
all that region of which it forms a part. Its earliest set- 
tlers were a colony from New England ; who, in 1788, 
founded Marietta, under the superintendence of general 
Putnam. 

In 1803, Louisiana was purchased from the French gov- 
ernment, for the sum of fifteen-millions of dollars; two-mil- 
lions-and-a-half of which were to be retained by the United 
States, as compensation for illegal captures made by France. 
At this period, its population did not entitle it to an inde- 
pendent rank ; but a district of it was subsequently admit- 
ted to that privilege, and formed the eighteenth member of 
the great American confederation.* 

In Louisiana, from the undisturbed navigation of the 
Mississippi, now secured ; by which, the Atlantic is con- 
nected with the remote regions of the west, and, (by its 
joining the Ohio,) with the ancient colonies as far as Penn- 
sylvania ; the United States have acquired a territory less- 
ened in value only by its magnitude. Nature is there found 
in all the majesty of youth. A new field of enterprise is 
opened, and new productions are added to the rich variety 
of their former catalogue. The sugar of New Orleans, in 
size and brilliancy of grain, is not excelled by any in the 
world : the cotton- of the lower district is abundant, and 
superior, in staple, to the upland species of Georgia or of 
Carolina. A large quantity of indigo was formerly pro- 
duced there; but this article, like the indigo of Carolina, 

• In tJie year 1812. 



THE UNITED STATES. 223 

has been, for many years past, degenerating in quality, as 
well as decreasing in amount ; the planters having trans- 
ferred their attention to a more profitable cultivation. 

Louisiana, the boundaries of which were not then com- 
pletely ascertained, formed part of the vast region, includ- 
ed, by the Spaniards, under the general name of Florida. 
One of their officers, De Soto, seems to have passed through 
the lower districts of this province, and to have reached the 
Mississippi, at a very early period after the discovery of 
America. But the interior regions were not in any manner 
explored, by Europeans, until about the year 1673; when, 
the French government of Canada sent a few persons to 
learn the truth of a report given by the Indians, respecting 
the existence of that great river. They descended the 
Mississippi, as far down, at least, as the Missouri. But 
little more was done in its examination, until undertaken 
by the enterprising La Salle ; Avho, boldly following its 
course, arrived, in 1682, at its mouth, in the Gulf of Mex- 
ico, and named the country after Louis the fourteenth. 
New Orleans was founded, and became the seat of govern- 
ment, in 1721. The whole population of the colony did 
not then exceed five-hundred. In 1762, by the treaty of 
Fontainbleau, which gave England possession of Spanish 
Florida, France, in a secret article, transferred Louisiana to 
the king of Spain; with whom, it remained, until restored 
to the French republic, in the year 1800. But the acqui- 
sition was only nominal. The maritime superiority of 
England rendered it impossible for the French to convey 
an army destined for its occupation; and it was, in conse- 
quence, assigned to the United States, at the period alrea- 
dy mentioned. 

To render the purchase of the utmost benefit, as well as 
to extend the field of natural science, Messrs. Lewis and 
Clarke, both officers of the regular army, were sent by the 
president, with instructions drawn by Mr. Jcfierson himself, 
to explore the river Missouri and the contiguous countries, 
and discover the best communication with the Pacific Ocean. 
Never was an arduous enterprise accomplished with more 
ability and prudence. Accompanied by thirty-five persons, 
mostly soldiers, they embarked at St. Louis, in suitable 
boats, in May, 1804, and ascended the Missouri to its stu- 
pendous falls, a distance of three-thousand miles; thence, 
crossed the Rocky Mountains, impeded by its everlasting 
snows, and descended various streams, until, after travel- 
ing four-hundred miles, they reached the navigable waters 



24 HISTORY OF 

of the Colunibia ; and, following its course six-hundred- 
and-forty? were recompensed for all their toils and priva- 
tions by a view of the Pacific. They reached St. Louis, on 
their return, in September, 1806, after an absence, from all 
civilization, of more than twenty-seven months. The jour- 
ney from St. Louis, was above four-thousand miles ; in re- 
turning, thirty-five-hundred; making, in the whole, seven- 
thousand-five-hundred miles. Only one of their party, of 
a sickly constitution, had died. Amongst all the Indian 
nations through w^hich they passed, they were only once 
incommoded by a skirmish, in defending a rifle. 

Their most dangerous enemies were the bears. These 
are described as most formidable animals, and frequently 
assailed them. One evening, the men discovered a large 
brown bear, lying on the open ground, about three-hundred 
paces from the river. Six good hunters immediately went 
to attack him; and, concealing themselves by a small emi- 
nence, approached within forty yards. Four of their num- 
ber now fired, and each lodged a ball in his body — two of 
them directly through his lungs. The furious beast sprang 
up, and ran at them with open mouth. As he came near, 
the two hunters who had reserved their fire, gave him two 
wounds; one of which, having broken his shoulder, retard- 
ed his motion for an instant: but, before they could reload, 
he was so close, that the whole party were compelled to 
run towards the river, and, before they reached it, he had 
almost overtaken them. Two jumped into the canoe; the 
other four separated, and, hiding amongst the w^illows, fired 
as fast as they could reload. They struck him several 
times ; but, instead of weakening the monster, or causing 
him to retreat, each shot seemed to invigorate him, and 
direct him towards the hunters : till, at length, he pursued 
two of them so closely, that they threw aside their guns 
and pouches, and jumped down a perpendicular bank of 
tw^enty feet, into the river. The bear sprang after them, 
and was within a fev/ feet of the hindmost, when one of the 
hunters on shore shot him through the head, and killed 
him. Captain Lewis, himself, was exposed to a similar 
peril. Having shot a buffalo, one of at least a thousand 
W'hich formed a herd, before he could reload, he was chased 
by a huge bear for three-hundred yards ; when, plunging 
into the river, and presenting his spear, the animal was 
deterred ; and, v/heeling about, retreated, in as much haste 
as he had pursued. 

The exploring party were frequently invited to share in 



THE UNITED STATES. 225 

the rud? festivities of the Indians. The journal of their ob- 
servations particularly describes an entertainment given 
them by a tribe of the Sioux, called Tetons. After eating 
and smoking for an hour, it became dark, and every thing 
^vas cleared away for a dance ; a large fire being kindled 
in the centre of the house. The orchestre was coniposed 
of ten men ; who played on a sort of tambourine, formed 
of a skin stretched across a hoop ; and made a jingling 
noise with the hoofs of deer and goats, suspended from a 
long slick. The third instrument, was a small skin bag, 
coPitaining pebbles,. These, with five or six young men, 
for the vocal part, made up the band. The women then 
came forward, highly decorated: some, vv'ith poles in their 
hands, to which were hung the scalps of their enem.ies ; 
others, with spears, guns, and different trophies, taken in 
war, by their husbands,, brothers, or connexions. Having 
arranged themselves in two columns, one on each side of 
the fire, they danced towards each other, until they met in 
the centre ; when, the rattles were shaken, and they all re- 
tired to their places. They had no step, but shuffled along 
the ground ; nor did their music appear to be any other 
than a confusion of noises, distinguished only by hard or 
gentle blows. The song was wholly extemporaneous. In 
the pauses of the dance, any of the company came forward, 
and recited, in a low guttural tone, some little story or 
event ; which was either martial or ludicrous, or voluptu- 
ous and indecent. This was repeated, in a higher tone, by 
the orchestre and dancers ; the latter, at the same time, 
moving in accordance with its strain. The dances of the 
men, which were always separate from those of the women, 
were conducted nearly in the same way; except that the 
men jumped up and down, instead of shuffling ; and in the 
war dance, the recitations were all of a military cast. The 
harmony of the entertainment was a little disturbed by one 
of the musicians; who, thinking he had not received a due 
share of the tobacco which Lewis and Clarke had distrib- 
uted, put himself into a passion, broke one of the drums, 
threw two into the fire, and left the hou&e. 

„ In the following year, Mr. Pike, an officer highly 
conspicuous for his subsequent conduct in the field 
of battle, accomplished an extensive geographical survey 
of Louisiana; which, with the former expedition, and the 
industrious researches of Mr. Bradbury, in the botanical 
department, have given all the infornia.tion required of 



226 HISTORY OF 

these countries, in the present state of American popula- 
tion. 

This period is remarkable, on account of the trial of 
Aaron Burr, for a serious offence against the laws of the 
United States. The circumstances that led to so unpleas- 
ant an occurrence, and to the tragical fate of a distinguish- 
ed member of the republic, by which it was preceded, de- 
serve to be related. At the close of the year 1800, the elec- 
tion for president and vice-president had again occurred ; 
when, the candidates were, besides John Adams and Thomas 
Jefferson, the magistrates then in ofhce, Charles Pinkney 
and colonel Aaron Burr. Party feeling was high. Strenuous 
efforts were made to change what was called the "federal" 
administration of Mr. Adams, for one thought to be more 
truly democratic. Although the friends of Mr. Jefferson, 
the democratic candidate, had intended Burr only as vice- 
president, yet, as he had an equal number of votes, the 
awarding of pre-eminence, agreeably with the constitution, 
devolved on the house of representatives. But, after thirty- 
five several ballotings, the issue was indecisive. However, 
Burr having at length declined aspiring to the presidency, 
tw^o federal members, who had supported him merely 
through opposition to Mr. Jefferson, withdrew ; and, on 
the thirty-sixth appeal to the ballot, the latter was elected 
to the first, and Burr, of course, became entitled to the 
second, situation. 

This scene agitated the public mind more than any of a 
civil nature that had occurred during the whole adminis- 
tration of the government. It was requisite to guard against 
a recurrence of so inflammatory result ; and, accordingly, 
it is now the duty of electors to designate the respective 
office intended for each individual. 

From that time. Burr, who had been a leading man 
amongst the democratic party, declined in favour with his 
political adherents. They suspected, that he had connived 
with the opposition to supplant Mr. Jefferson, and, there- 
by, procure his own election. His genius, acknowledged 
to be of the highest order, began to form a plan to recover 
liis former influence. He became a candidate for the office 
of governor of New York ; calculating on success from a 
junction of his numerous personal friends with the federal 
party in that state, who formed a respectable minority. The 
design, however, was not successful. It ^yas defeated by 
Alexander Hamilton; long the professional rival and politic 



THE UNITED STATES. 227 

cal opponent of colonel Burr. The disappointed candidate 
was determined on revenge. He addressed a note to Mr. 
Hamilton ; the consequence of which was a duel, on the 
i2th of July, 1804, at Hoboken, in New Jersey: where, at 
the first fire, the latter was mortally wounded. 

During the winter, Burr conceived the project of an en- 
terprise in the west. His designs have remained in some 
degree of obscurity : but, public opinion concluded, that 
he intended either a governmental separation of the west- 
ern from the Atlantic portion of the Union; or an invasion 
of Mexico and other Spanish provinces in the neighbour- 
hood of the United States. For this purpose, having se- 
duced to his interest some individuals of wealth* and in- 
fluence, he assembled a few desperate partisans on the 
Ohio, and steered his course towards the Mississippi. But 
the vigilance of the public officers defeated his intentions. 
He was apprehended, and conveyed a prisoner to Rich- 
mond, in Virginia ; the state in which his adherents had 
first collected. On the 17th of August, 1807, he was 
brought to trial. Several days were consumed in the ex- 
amination of witnesses; who proved an assembling of twen- 
ty or thirty persons on Blennerhassett's island, in the pre- 
ceding December: but, as it did not appear that the con- 
spirators had used any force against the authority of the 
United States, or that Burr was present at the meeting, he 
was acquitted. Indictments had been found against Her- 
man Blennerhassett, and five other persons, for a similar 
ofi'ence: but, on the issue of colonel Burr's trial, the attor- 
ney-general declined any farther proceedings. 

Alexander Hamilton, of whose valuable services the 
country was now deprived, was born in the island of St. 
Croix. His father was a descendant of an English family; 
his mother was a native of one of the British colonies now 
comprised in the United States. At the age of sixteen, 
Mr. Hamilton emigrated to Ncv/ York, and entered as a 
student of Columbia College ; where, he first mariifcsted 
those extraordinary talents that afterwards raised liim to 
public notice. Oniy three years were given to collegiate 
studies. He could no longer remain in the academic grove, 
when his adopted country was in danger; and, according- 
ly, in his nineteenth year, he entered the patriot army, as 
captain of artillery ; in which capacity, having distinguish- 
ed himself in several arduous engagements, it was not long 
before he was selected by the commander in chief as his 
first aid-de-camp, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. From 



228 HISTORY OF 

that period, 1777, until the capture of lord Coinwai'iiS) 
Washington and Hamilton were inseparable companions. 
At the sic^c of Yorktown, he led, by his own request, 
the American detachment, which, simultaneously with an 
attack, made by another party from the French army, g-al- 
lantly stormed one of the enemy's out-works. In the year 
17F2, h^ Mas elected a member of congress from the state 
of N-.^vv York; in which office, he was a distinguished lead- 
er, in all the most important measures of the session. Hav- 
ing returned to the practice of the law, he soon gained the 
foremost rank in the profession. When the new federal 
constitution was to be examined, colonel Hamilton was ap- 
pointed,* by his former constituents, a representative to the 
general convention. In 179 8, when the French republic 
threatened to invade the United States, and Washington 
again yielded to his country's call in marshaling her forces, 
the appointment of Flamilton to the post of second in com- 
mand was made an inseparable condition of his acquies- 
cence ; and, when his illustrious companion was removed 
from this scene of trouble, he was, in course, at the head 
of the American army, rxeneral Hamilton was killed in 
the forty-seventh year of his age. Although under the 
middle stature, he possessed a striking and manly appear- 
ance. Flis mental faculties v.-ere of the highest order. As 
a lawyer and an orator, a soldier, financier, and statesman, 
he vvas profound and eloquent ; brave, ingenious, and up- 
right. 



CHAPTER XI. 

THREE years' WAR. 

Berlin and Milan Decrees of jYa/ioleon. British Orders 
in Cotincil. Cafiture of J incricaji vessels. Ini/iress- 
jnent of American seamen. Kmbargo, JVon-intcrcourse. 
War with Great Britain. 

FROM domestic events, it now becomes necessary to 
revert to the affairs of Europe ; to those vast occurrences, 
the destructive influence of which is almost hidden by their 
sublimity. For a long time after the spoliations on the com- 
merce of the United States had ceased, in consequence of 
the treaty negotiated by Mr. Jay, their shipping interest 



THE UNITED STATES. 229 

experienced few impediments, worthy of animadversion. 
Their merchants were enriched by the European warfare^ 
beyond any previous example: their flag, for many years, 
was the only one that enjoyed the happy and enviable ad- 
vantage of neutrality. But that great national blessing was 
doomed to have a period. When, in the year 1804, the 
flames of inveterate hostility, which had been withdrawn, 
not extinguished, by the short-lived peace of Amiens, burst 
forth, and spread with unequalled fierceness ; and the feel- 
ings of Great Britain, in refusing to acknowledge the im- 
perial dignity assumed by Napoleon, were responded by all 
the royal famalies of Europe; the civilized world was shak- 
en by the awful contest. Every antagonist except Britain, 
was crushed by the arms of France. Napoleon's ambition 
was bounded only by the fleets of England; her fleets were 
supported by her commerce and manufactures; and, to an- 
nihilate the one, it was necessary to destroy the others. 
Britain seemed contending for existence; but, while strug- 
gling to avert her individual ruin, she afl^ected to be the 
bulv/ark of the world. Flattered by this proud assumption 
of disinterested generosity, the encroachments of Napo- 
leon on neutral rights were met by corresponding obstruc- 
tions ; and, when France interdicted all commerce with 
Great Britain, the latter denounced all commercial inter- 
course with France. The Berlin decree of 1806, and that 
of Milan in the succeeding year, (both issued by Napoleon 
to prevent the American flag from trading with his enemy,) 
were followed by the British orders in council ; no less ex- 
tensive than the former, in their design, and equally repug- 
nant to the law of nations. 

France, however, had, at this period, no power upon the 
ocean. Her fleets were, by the fate of war, transferred to 
her victorious rival. There, France could wage only a 
combat of decrees. She was unable to preserve a single 
cruiser, against the superior discipline of the British navy. 
It was not until the friendly vessels had reached her ports, 
after sailing from her opponent's harbours, that the con- 
fiscations were eff'ected. The plunders, by the other belli- 
gerant, could be made at all times ; on the ocean, or within 
her harbours. England was jealous, because America de- 
layed resistance to the feeble marine of France : the latter, 
enraged, from the patience with which the neutral suffered 
the encroachments of England. Both continued their de- 
predations ; and each strove to rouse the vengeance of the 
injured against the other. 



230 HISTORY OF 

But there was a farther cause of irritation ; arising, sole- 
ly, from the conduct of Great Britain. This was, the cus- 
tom of searching American vessels on the ocean, and im- 
pressing from them British seamen ; a custom at variance 
with the free principles of the English constitution, when 
applied to her own, and with the rights of independent na- 
tions, when practised against foreign, vessels. The seamen, 
and consequently the trade, of the United States, were af- 
fected, in a peculiar manner, by this proceeding. Using 
the same language with the native subjects of the British 
monarch; speaking with the same provincial dialects; re- 
sembling them in dress and in personal appearance; it was 
impossible to distinguish, with legal certainty, the sailors 
of one country from the people of the other ; and, besides, 
the United States had always exercised a right of natural- 
izing, after a certain length of residence, the inhabitants of 
every nation: England had long been in the habit of ex- 
tending to foreigners, who entered her naval service, a 
similar privilege ; and it was asserted, that to invade the 
deck of a ship on the common sea, was an act of hostility, 
no less than the invasion of the land to which the vessel 
belonged. 

y The climax of audacity and insult at length ar- 
rived. Hitherto, the custom of impressment had 
been confined to private vessels ; but, now, it was carried to 
the utmost point to which aggression could extend. Nation- 
al armed ships were not exempted from intrusion. Four 
seamen, deserters from the British navy, were reported to 
have entered the service of the United States, and to have 
been received on board the frigate Chesapeake, at that 
time lying in Hampton Roads, preparing for the Mediter- 
ranean. Admiral Berkely, commander of his Britannic 
majesty's fleet on the Halifax station, the American gov- 
ernment having refused to permit the frigate to be search- 
ed, ordered the officers of a squadron within the capes of 
Virginia to follow the American beyond the waters of the 
United States, and then procure from her, by force, if ne- 
cessary, the reputed deserters. This service was under- 
taken by captain Humphries, of the Leopard. He follow- 
ed the Chesapeake; and, on the 22d of June, after demand- 
ing the deserters, attacked her with a broadside. This un- 
expected occurrence so disconcerted her commander, com- 
modore Barron, that he struck his colours, and permitted 
the four seamen to be taken, without resistance. The 



J 



THE UNITED STATES. 231 

Leopard carried fifty guns, the Chesapeake only thirty- 
six. On board the latter, four men were killed and sixteen 
wounded: one of the impressed seamen was soon after- 
wards hanged, and another died in prison. Three of their 
number were natives of America. 

Commodore Barron was tried by a court martial, found 
guilty of neglect of duty, and suspended from command 
for the term of five years. 

The indignant feeling which arose from this tragical- 
occurrence, was for a moment lessened by the succeeding 
conduct of the British government. Admiral Berkely's. 
orders were immediately disavowed ; he was removed from 
the American station, and naval officers were instructed to 
respect, in future, the national armed vessels. But the 
wound inflicted upon American dignity was yet unhealed. 
Something farther was demanded as an atonement. An 
apology was required, not less conspicuous than the ag- 
gression. Yet, whilst the offending admiral was degraded 
in one quarter, he received an appointment, of higher hon- 
our, in another: new systems of blockade were invented ; 
the catalogue of commercial articles deemed contraband 
was still more grievously enlarged. From the amplitude 
of these, and of the French imperial decrees, a general cap- 
ture of all American property afloat seemed almost inevi- 
table. Congress, therefore, on the recommendation of Mr. 
Jeff*erson, ordered an embargo; prohibiting the exportation 
of every article from the United States. 

In a moment, the commerce of the American republic, 
from being, in point of extent, the second in the world, was 
reduced to a coasting trade between the individual states. 
But, though all had, in public meetings, urged the adop- 
tion of efficient measures against the belligerant parties, 
and pledged themselves to aid the general government in 
any measures calculated to avenge the honour, or, at least, 
to guard the property, of the country, yet, many were un- 
willing to support the very laws which they had recom- 
mended. Several states declared against the embargo ; and 
individuals, throughout the whole, seized every opportuni- 
ty of infringement. Overrating her relative importance in 
the commercial scale of the Union, New England charged 
the southern and the western states, which were more em- 
ployed in agricultural pursuits, with having sacrificed the 
mercantile interest, through sectional hostility ; and trad- 
ers, in every port, sought to reap a double harvest by in- 
fraction. Forgetting' the solenin compact, by which the 



232 HISTORY OF 

voice of one state was surrendered to the interest of all, the 
former aimed only at her own gratification : unmindful of 
the sacred duty of citizens, the latter paralysed the opera- 
tions of their own representatives, for the sordid consider- 
ation of individual gain. The opposition in the eastern 
states daily grew moi^ violent. The restriction could not 
be enforced, there, without military coercion. The govern- 
ment, therefore, which, for many years, had sacrificed 
largely for the preservation of peace with foreigners, found 
. o Q it expedient to observe a similar conduct at home. 
They repealed the embargo law, as respected some 
branches of commerce, and substituted a non-intercourse 
with France and England. 

The 3rd of March having concluded the administi^tion 
of Thomas Jefferson, after a second election, he was suc- 
ceeded in the presidential office by James Madison. 

A ray of national prosperity shortly afterwards burst 
through the general gloom. But the renewal of commer- 
cial intercourse with England, arising from the magnani- 
mous reparation for recent injury, offered by Mr. Erskine, 
(an envoy commissioned to the United States by the liberal 
administration of Mr. Fox,) and the conciliatory tone used 
by those enlightened patriots, was, in a short time, sus- 
pendedj by the refusal, on the part of their successors, now 
\inder the baneful influence of lord Castlereagh, to ratify 
the treaty concluded by Mr. Erskine. The insult- 
ing deportment of the succeeding negotiator, Mr. 
Jackson, heightened the resentment of the republic ; and 
a rencounter between the American and British ships of 
war, the President and Little Belt, increased the unfriend- 
ly sentiments of England. 

The affairs, however, between the Leopard and Chesa- 
peake, the President and Little Belt, were, on the arrival 
of Mr. Foster from the court of London, finally adjusted. 
Provision was made by the British government, to support 
the seamen who had been disabled, together with the fami- 
lies of the unfortunate men killed or wounded by the Leo- 
pard ; and the impressed sailors, yet remaining alive, were 
restored, on the same deck from which they had been un- 
justly taken. 

This was an important victory. But much was still to 
be accomplished. Every experiment had failed, in pro- 
curing a change of the systems practised by Great Britain 
and France against American trade. The United States 
now offered to their consideration, that the non-intercourse 



THE UNITED STATES. 233 

'drrangement would be discontinued, towards either of the 
bellit^erants, or both, as soon as they, respectively, ceased 
to violate the neutral commerce of the republic. This al- 
ternative proposition caused a line of proceeding, singular- 
ly artful on the part of France. It enabled her ruler to 
maintain a peace with the United States, and involve the 
other power in the calamity of war. Napoleon's minister 
having informed general Armstrong, the American resi- 
dent at Paris, that the decrees of Berlin and Milan were 
revoked, the non-intercourse, as regarded France, was, by 
proclamation of the president, v/ithdrawn. But, Great Brit- 
ain, suspecting the intentions of Napoleon, would not be- 
lieve that the French decrees were, at this period, actually 
annulled. Indeed, when it is considered, that nearly two 
years elapsed, before a copy of the document, by which 
the emperor asserted they had been repealed, was handed 
to the American minister; and that its date was seven 
months earlier tlian the period of its communication, an 
impartial observer cannot avoid declaring, that there was 
greater reason for suspicion than belief.. 

^^ ^ The formal publication of that mysterious annul- 
ment, was followed by a corresponding retraction, 
on the part of England. But the measure was then too 
late. The American government had resolved, that what 
could not be obtained through a sense of justice, should 
be enforced by the aid of arms. When intelligence of the 
repeal arrived in the United States, war had commenced 
against Great Britain. The bill for this purpose was voted 
in the house of representatives by a majority of thirty mem- 
bers in a hundred-and-twenty-eight ; in the senate, by a 
majority of six out of thirty-two ; and confirmed by the 
approbation of the president. 

This ultima ratio (the last appeal) Avas made on the 18th 
of June ; and, as the questions of search and impressment 
were still unsettled, it was thought to be the interest of the 
nation that hostilities should be continued, until after a final 
adjustment of every dispute. It had been long manifest, 
that both Great Britain and France concurred in the opin- 
ion that the spirit of the United States was not martial, 
and that the majority of the American people were under 
the influence of commerce : from which supposition, caused 
by the past forbearance of the government, they presumed, 
that they would make no other than a war of plenipoten- 
tiaries and countervailing statutes. That solemn resolu-- 
tion was not a little hastened by a commimication of an ex- 



234 HISTORY OF 

traovdinary nature, made to congress, by the president. A. 
person named John Henry, more conspicuous for his ability 
than virtue, had been commissioned by sir James Craig, 
governor of Canada, to heighten the dissatisfaction of the 
eastern states, and, thereby, cause them to withdraw from 
the great federal union. His endeavours proving ineffec- 
tual, his mission was not acknowledged by the British 
ministers, nor his labour, in any manner, rewarded : he 
therefore assumed a new character; and, as his friends had 
not remunerated his exertions as a spy, he sought, from his 
intended victims, the wages of an informer, and obtained 
fifty-thousand dollars for the disclosure. 

Some months before the declaration of hostility, congress 
were seriously engaged in preparing for the contest. Be- 
sides the ordinary militia, they voted that an addition of 
twenty-five-thousand should be made to the regular land 
forces; thus, increasing the latter to thirty-one-thousand 
men : that the existing navy should be placed in a proper 
state for service, and that two-hundred-thousand dollars 
should be annually appropriated to its increase : a loan of 
eleven-millions was authorized, and five-millions were di- 
rected to be raised by the issue of notes from the treasury 
department. The duties on goods imported were in gen- 
eral doubled. Taxes were afterwards laid on articles of 
domestic manufacture ; upon lands, houses, and nearly 
every other description of property. In using these re- 
sources, however, great improvidence was shown. From 
the hope entertained of a favourable issue of the negotia- 
tion, or the dread existing in the legislators of losing their 
popularity, internal taxes were not laid on until the exist- 
ence of actual warfare. The consequence was severely felt. 
Speculators seized the opportunity afforded by a sudden 
demand for money, and supplied the exhausted treasury 
by giving eighty dollars each for debentures not redeemable 
under a hundred. 

A few days after the declaration of war, the town of Bal- 
timore was seriously disturbed. Some harsh strictures on 
the conduct of government having appeared in a newspaper 
of that city, entitled the "Federal Republican," the resent- 
ment of the opposite party was shov/n by destroying the 
office and press of that establishment. The commotion 
excited by this outrage, had, however, in a great measure, 
subsided, and the transaction was brought before a criminal 
court for investigation. But events more alarming and 
tragical shortly afterwards succeeded. On the 26th of July, 



J 



THE UNITED STATES. 2'3S 

Mr. Hanson, the leading editor of the obnoxious journal, 
who had deemed it prudent to leave the disordered city, 
returned; accompanied by his political adherents; amongst 
whom, was general Henry Lee, of Alexandria; an officer 
distinguished in the revolution, for his bravery in partisan 
warfare, at the head of a legion of cavalry ; afterwards gov- 
ernor of Virginia, and a representative from that state in 
the congress of the federal government. Determined to 
re-commence the paper, by first printing it in Georgetown, 
in the District of Columbia, and then transmitting it to 
Baltimore for distribution, a house was, for this purpose, 
occupied in Charles street, secured against external vio- 
lence, and guarded by a party well provided for defence. 
On the 28th, papers were accordingly issued. These con- 
tained severe animadversions against the mayor, police, 
and people of Baltimore, for the depredations committed 
on the establishment in the preceding month, and were gen- 
erally circulated throughout the city. 

In the course of the day, it became known, that Mr, Han- 
son was in the new office in Charles street, and it was early 
whispered that the building would be assailed. A number 
of citizens, who espoused his opinions, went, therefore, to 
the house, and joined in its protection. Towards the even- 
ing, a crowd of boys collected; who, after using opprobri- 
ous epithets to those within, began to throw stones at the 
windows ; and, about the same time, a person on the pave- 
ment, endeavouring to dissuade the youths from mischief, 
was severely wounded, by something ponderous thrown 
from the house. They were cautioned from the windows 
to desist; but still continued to assail the place with stones. 
Two muskets were then fired from the upper story ; charg- 
ed, it was supposed, with blank cartridges, to deter them 
from farther violence; immediately, the crowd in the street 
greatly increased; the boys were displaced by men; the 
sashes of the lower windows were broken, and attempts 
made to force in the door. Muskets, in quick succession, 
were discharged from the house: some military arrived to 
disperse the crowd; several shots were fired in return; and, 
at length, a doctor Gale was killed, by a shot from the office 
door. The irritation of the mob was increased. They 
planted a cannon against the house, but were restrained 
from discharging it, by the timely arrival of an additional 
military force, and an agreement that the persons in the 
house would surrender to the civil authority. Accordingly, 
early in the following morning, having received assurances, 



^36 HISTORY OF 

on which they thought themselves safe in relying, they 
surrendered, and were conducted to the county jail, con- 
tiguous to the city. The party consisted of about twenty 
persons; amongst whom, were general Lee, general James 
Lingan, and Mr. Hanson. 

The mayor seems to have acted with alacrity, yet not 
with sufficient prudence. He directed the sheriff to use 
every precaution in securing the doors of the prison, and 
the commander of the troops to employ a competent force 
to preserve the peace. In the evening, every thing bore 
the appearance of tranquillity ; and the soldiers, by the 
consent of that magistrate, were dismissed. But, shortly 
after dark, a great crowd of disorderly persons re-assem- 
bled about the jail, and manifested an intention to force it 
open. On being apprized of this, the mayor hastened to 
the spot, and, with the aid of a few other gentlemen, for 
a while prevented the execution of their design : but they 
were at length overpowered, by the number and violence 
of the assailants. The mayor was carried away by force ; 
and the turnkey compelled to open the doors. A tragedy 
ensued, which cannot be described : it can be imagined 
only by those who are familiar with scenes of blood. Gen- 
eral Lingan was kiiled ; eleven were beaten and mangled, 
with weapons of every description, such as stones, blud- 
geons, and sledge-hammers, and then thrown, as dead, into 
one pile outside of the door. A few of the prisoners for- 
tunately escaped through the crowd: Mr. Hanson, fainting 
from his repeated wounds, was carried by a gentleman (of 
opposite political sentiments) at the hazard of his own life, 
across the adjoining river, whence, he with difficulty reach- 
ed the dwelling of a friend. 

No effectual inquisition was ever made into this signal 
violation of the peace, nor punishment inflicted on the 
guilty. The leaders, on both sides, underwent trials ; but, 
owing to the inflammation of the public feelings, they were 
acquitted. 

The Indians on the western frontier were not inattentive 
to the hostile attitude of the British government. As usual, 
they deemed the opportunity favourable, to invade the ter- 
ritories which they had, by treaty, surrendered to the Unit- 
ed States. Under the influence of a fenatic of the Shawa- 
nese tribe, who assumed the name of Prophet, brother of a 
celebrated chief, Tecumseh ; and inflamed, it must, with 
historical justice, be admitted, by the encroachments of 
some lawless citizens ; the Indians inhabiting the neigh- 



THE UNITED STATES. 2^7 

I)Ourhood of the Wabash had formed a powerful combina- 
tion, and assailed the unprotected white settlers with the 
accustomed barbarities of savage warfare. To repel this 
invasion, and recover the plundered property, a force was 
assembled in the Indiana country, consisting of regulars 
and neighbouring militia, and placed under the command 
of Mr. Harrison, governor of that district. The expedition 
was conducted with the greatest prudence, and effectually 
relieved the unhappy settlers. By the unremitting vigi- 
lance of the commander, a treacherous attack on his en- 
campment at the Tippecanoe, a branch of the Wabash 
river, (on the 7th November, 1811) was repelled, and am- 
ple vengeance inflicted, by the dispersion of the entire 
confederation. But this service was not performed without 
the loss of many valuable lives. One-hundred-and-eighty 
American citizens were slain or wounded. Of the former, 
none were more deservedly lamented than major Davies 
and colonel Abraham Owens, of Kentucky ; men,, whose 
deportment in time of peace, was equally respectable with 
their conduct in the day of battle. 

Amongst the number of general officers about this time 
appointed, was William Hull ; then, governor ef tb«- 
Michigan territory: who was entitled to public confidence 
from his, military services during the revolution. Antici- 
pating the commencement of hostilities with Britain, the 
war department had given personal instructions to general 
Hull; agreeably with which, he had proceeded for his des- 
tination to the north-west, early in the month of May ; and, 
when arrived at Dayton, a town situated on a branch of the 
Great Miami, the forces which he had collected in Mary- 
land, Pennsylvania, and Ohio,, were joined by a body of 
volunteers. These were from the latter state ; under the 
command of colonels Cass, Findley, and M'Arthur. The 
general then marched directly towards Detroit; a strong 
military post in Michigau, eighteen miles from lake Erie, 

The object of this expedition, was the invasion of Cana^ 
da. Accordingly, on the 12th of July, intelligence of the 
war with England having reached the commander, he cross-^ 
ed over into that province, and fixed his head quarters at 
Sandwich. He was now distant only a few miles from 
Maiden, the strongest fortress in Upper Canada ; reputed 
to be in general guarded by about one-hundred-and-sixty 
men. At this time, the garrison had been increased ; more, 
however, in its number than its strength : it consisted of 
Canadian militia, British regulars, and Indians j a motleys 



238 HISTORY OF 

assemblage, amounting, in all, to about one-thousand. Sev- 
eral parties were detached from the American army, to 
reconnoitre the surrounding country ; and inconsiderable 
skirmishes ensued, producing no immediate advantage to 
either side. But, in the end, they were beneficial to the 
enemy. Their numbers were, in the meantime, increasing: 
the spirits of the American army were suffered to cool ; 
their confidence in their leader was rapidly declining. The 
Canadians were allowed a whole month, to deliberate on 
the question of submission or resistance : during which 
interval, they ascertained the materials of the invading 
army ; that they were volunteers and militia, not regular 
soldiers ; and that, whatever might be their individual 
courage, their bravery would be rendered ineffective by the 
misconduct of their commander. 

Meanwhile, a severe disaster befell the United States, 
from an invasion by the enemy. Whilst the American 
general was losing, in vain parade, the opportunity of cap- 
turing a British post, his antagonists succeeded in gaining 
possession of Michillimackinac, by surprise. This fortress 
is situated at the entrance of the strait that connects the 
rakes Michigan and Huron, on an island; where, was an- 
nually held a market ; at which the Indian traders and 
merchants of Albany and Montreal convened, to exchange 
the peltries of the north for the commodities of the east ; 
and is important, as commanding the intercoure between 
those great waters, and a convenient passage between Can- 
ada and the United States. 

When information of this misfortune reached the Amer- 
ican camp at Sandwich, general Hull was filled with most 
gloomy anticipations. He dreaded, lest the ^^ northern 
hive" of Indians would be poured upon his rear, and speed- 
ily envelop his entire army. Some decisive step, he saw, 
must immediately be taken. His troops ardently wished 
to repel the ideal danger, by a victorious assault on the 
British works : but their leader resolved to avoid it, by a 
contrary movement — an immediate retreat. On the 8th of 
August, he determined on returning to Detroit. The Brit- 
ish general, Brock, was at no great distance in his rear ; 
and, when arrived at the margin of the adjoining strait, 
made several demonstrations of an intention to cross it, in 
order to besiege the American fort. Either panic-struck 
or influenced by treacherous engagements, general Hull 
now exhibited strong indications of yielding that important 
post, and the whole army under his command, to the very 



THE UNITED STATES. 239 

inferior force of the enemy. Language cannot describe 
the indignant feelings of his brave associates. When his 
intention was suspected, a plan was immediately in agita- 
tion, to deprive him of his command ; and failed only from 
the precipitation of his surrender. He had not the smallest 
reason for alarm. A regiment of the line was stationed in 
the fort: the Ohio volunteers, with a part of the Michigan 
militia, behind some pickets ; so situated, that the whole 
flank of the enemy, would, in their approach, be exposed 
to a destructive fire; and the remainder of the latter regi- 
ment were in the upper part of the town, to resist the in- 
cursions of the Indians. Two pieces of artillery, twenty-four 
pounders, loaded with grape-shot, were placed on a com- 
manding eminence; ready to sweep the advancing column 
of the enemy, as it approached the fort. Full confidence 
in a favourable result was felt by the Ahierican army. 
Every man expected a proud day for his country; and each 
was anxious to contribute to the victory, by his individual 
exertion. 

On the 15th of August, when the head of the British 
column arrived within five-hundred yards of the American 
lines, general Hull ordered that the whole should retreat 
into the fort, and that the twenty-four pounders should not 
be fired. Immediately, there was heard a universal burst 
of indignation. The folly was apparent, of crowding eleven- 
hundred men into a work that could be fully manned by 
three-hundred ; and into which, the shot and shells from 
the Canadian shore were continually falling. The order, 
however, could not be disobeyed. It was not the com- 
mander's intention that the garrison should long remain in 
danger. They were directed to stack their arms; a white 
flag was hung out upon the walls, and a communication 
passed between the two generals, which was shortly fol- 
lowed by a capitulation. — Not an officer had been consult- 
ed. No one, except the commander, thought of a surren- 
der, until the flag was displayed ; and even the women 
were indignant at so shameful a degradation. 

The volunteers and militia, being disarmed, returned, in 
sorrow, to their respective homes ; on condition of not 
serving agaijn during the war, unless exchanged. The 
general, and the regular troops, were sent to Quebec, as 
prisoners of war. 

But, it was not thought sufficient to give the enemy un- 
disputed possession of the fortress. The whole territory 
of Michigan was included in the capitulation. The United 



240 HISTORY OF 

States were not deprived alone of the services of the troops 
within the fort : detachments, unconnected with the gar- 
rison, were involved in the dishonourable agreement. Cap- 
tain Brush and his party became prisoners at Fort Dear- 
borne: six-hundred men under colonel Miller, and three- 
hundred under colonel M'Arthur, (the former on his re- 
turn from Brownstown, where he had defeated a body of 
British and Indians,) were also obliged to ground their arms. 

On being exchanged, general Hull was arrested and 
brought to trial ; charged with treason, cowardice, and ne- 
glect of duty. The court martial, not having legal juris- 
diction in treasonable matters, declined giving judgment 
on the first charge ; at the same time, stating, that they 
did not believe him guilty of treason : yet they found him 
guilty of the rest. He was sentenced to be shot: but, in 
consideration of his revolutionary conduct, and of his ad- 
vanced age, the court recommended him to the mercy of 
the president ; and the punishment of death was, in con- 
sequence, withdrawn. His name was then struck from the 
roll of officers : a substitution, less rigorous, as regards the 
law, but equally painful to every man possessing the hon- 
ourable feelings of a soldier. 

On another element, the Americans received ample con- 
solation for that afflicting disaster. Unexpected laurels 
crowned their brave defenders on the ocean. A series of 
achievements had commenced, which, in the course of this 
arduous contest, raised the naval glory of the United States 
to an elevation, scarcely surpassed by any nation in the 
world. Her fleet was few in number ; at this period, only 
seven frigates, eight sloops and brigs, four schooners, and 
one corvette : yet, with this inconsiderable force, her sea- 
men courted a participation in the struggle, against the 
gigantic fleets of Britain ; which, amounting to a thousand 
vessels, were then riding triumphantly over the watery sur- 
face of the globe. 

The Constitution, captain Hull, had sailed from An- 
napolis on the 5th of July. On the 17th he was chased by 
a ship of the line and four frigates ; when, by an exertion 
of able seamanship, than which, victory itself, though more 
beneficial, could not be more worthy of applause, he es- 
caped from the unequal combat. On the 19th of August, 
he had an opportunity of trying his frigate against a sin- 
gle vessel of the enemy. This was the Guerriere ; one ef 
the best, of the same class, in the British navy, and in no 
way averse to the rencounter; as she promptly awaited 



THE UNITED STATES. 241 

Iier antagonist's arrival. She had, for some time, been 
searching for an American frigate ; having given a formal 
challenge to every vessel of the same description. At one 
of her mast-head's, was a flag ; on which her name was in- 
scribed, in conspicuous letters ; and on another, the words, 
" Not The Little Belt ;" alluding to the broadsides which 
the President had fired into that sloop, before the war. — 
The Constitution being made ready for action, now ap- 
proached ; her crew giving three cheers. Both continued 
manceuvrhig for three quarters of an hour: the Guerriere 
attempted to take a raking position ; and failing in this, 
soon afterwards began to pour out her broadsides, with a 
view of crippling her antagonist. From the Constitution, 
not a gun had been fired. Already, had an officer twice 
come on the quarter-deck, with information that several of 
the men had fallen at the guns. Though burning with im- 
patience, the crew silently awaited the orders of their com- 
mander. The long expected moment at length arrived. 
The vessel being brought exactly to the designed position, 
directions were given to fire broadside after broadside, in 
c[uick succession. Never was any scene more dreadful. — 
For fifteen minutes, the lightning of the Constitution's guns 
is a continued blaze, and their thunder roars without in- 
termission. The enemy's mizen mast lies over her side, 
and she stands exposed to a fire that sweeps her decks. 
vShe becomes unmanageable ; her hull is shattered, her 
sails and rigging cut to pieces. Her mainmast and fore- 
mast fall overboard, taking with them every spar, except 
the bowsprit. — The firing now ceased, and the Guerriere 
surrendered. Her loss was fifteen killed, and sixty-three 
wounded: the Constitution had seven men killed, and seven 
wounded. The Guerriere was so much damaged, as to 
render it impossible to bring her into port : she was, there- 
fore, on the following day, blown up. The Constitution re- 
ceived so little injuiy, that she was, in a few hours, ready 
for another action. 

This brilliant event spread unbounded joy over the whole 
country. Captain Hull and his equally gallant officers were 
received with enthusiastic demonstrations of gratitude, 
wherever they appeared. He was presented with the free- 
dom of all the cities through which he passed to the seat 
of government, and with many valuable donations. Con- 
gress voted lifteen-thousand dollars to the crew, as a re- 
compense for the loss of the prize. Sailing-master Alwyn, 
who had been severely wounded, was promoted to the rank 



242 HISTORY OF 

of lieutenant ; lieutenant Morris, who also had been wound- 
ed, to the rank of post-captain. The achievement was re- 
markable. Great Britain had not, in the course of thirty- 
years, lost a frigate in any conflict, with a similar equality 
of force. 

Another victory, not less glorious to the American navy, 
was soon afterwards gained, by the frigate United States, 
commanded by commodore Decatur; an oflicer, already 
distinguished for his skill and courage, particularly in the 
Mediterranean. On the 25th of October, the United States, 
after an action of two hours, captured, off the Western 
Isles, the British frigate Macedonian. The liberal conduct 
of the American seamen drew forth a species of praise 
from the enemy, not less grateful than that experienced 
from their friends. All the private property belonging to 
the officers and crew of the Macedonian was restored, with 
the most rigid exactness ; and they were treated with the 
greatest humanity and politeness. 

The carpenter of the United States, being amongst the 
killed, had left three small children to the care of a profli- 
gate mother. This circumstance, when known to the gen- 
erous crew, produced an act of benevolence which deserves 
to be recorded. They instantly raised a fund among them- 
selves, amounting to eight-hundred dollars, for the main- 
tenance and education of the unhappy orphans. 

The next naval achievement, was the capture of the brig 
Frolic, of twenty-two guns, by the Wasp ; a sloop of war 
commanded by capt-ain Jones. The Frolic fired as she rose 
upon the water; so that her shot was either thrown away, 
or touched the rigging of the American: the Wasp, on the 
contrary, fired as she descended ; and, thus, at every dis- 
charge, struck the hull of her antagonist. On boarding the 
British vessel, the surprise of the Americans can scarcely 
be imagined. They beheld only three officers, and the sea- 
man at theJhelm. The deck was slippery with blood ; pre- 
senting a most awful scene of havoc and distress. The col- 
ours were still flying; there being no one left to haul them 
down. The birth-deck was crowded with the dead, the 
dying, and the wounded ; and the masts soon after fell ; 
covering every thing beneath, and leaving her a melan- 
choly object of devastation. The loss on board the Frolic, 
was thirty killed and fifty wounded ; on board the Ameri- 
can, five killed and five wounded. Neither of the vessels, 
however, arrived in the United States. They were both 
captured before evening, by a British ship of the line. 



THE UNITED STATES. 245 

No subject of martial discipline ; not even the long dis- 
puted question, which was the most efficient, the Macedo- 
nian phalanx, or the legion of the Roman army; ever cre- 
ated a more eager spirit of inquiry, than did the extraordi- 
nary success of the American navy. The British assigned, 
as the cause, the superior dimensions of their enemy's ves- 
sels: the Americans, the voluntary enlistment of their sea- 
men. But neither the one nor the other reason, will bear 
the test of experience. The first is erroneous; because iLe 
superiority of a few guns, could not produce a continuation 
of similar results : the second is equally untrue; being con- 
tradicted by historical evidence. During the revolution, the 
British mercenary soldiers almost invariably overthrew the 
American militia; and, in the English navy, -no difference 
has been, at any time, recorded, between the exertions of 
the impressed seamen and the volunteer. The cause, how- 
ever, may easily be discovered. It arose, entirely, from the 
superior accuracy of the American fire, and the point to 
which the shot was, in every instance, directed. The French 
aim their engines of destruction at the rigging; thus, hop- 
ing to escape from a disabled enemy ; the English, chief- 
ly at the deck ; but the Americans pursue a system diifer- 
ent from either, and combining the advantages of both. 
They pour their unerring fury against the hull ; the shat- 
tered sides admit overwhelming torrents of the ocean, and 
the descending vessel compels the drowning enemy to strike 
his colours. 

Feats of naval prowess were not confined to the public 
ships of the United States. The exploits of private armed 
vessels, daily filled the gazettes. Privateers sailed from 
every port ; to distress, or reap advantage from, the ene- 
my ; and exhibited the same superiority that was display- 
ed by the regular navy. One of the first at sea, was the 
Atlas, commanded by captain Mofiit ; which, with the 
Dolphin, commanded by captain Endicott, the Comet, the 
General Armstrong, and the Decatur, became particular- 
ly conspicuous. A revolutionary veteran, also, commodore 
Barney, sailed from Baltimore, in theRossie; and evinced, 
by a rapid series of success, that none of his early vigour 
was abated by the hand of time. Before the meeting of 
congress, in November, nearly two-hundred-and-fifty ves- 
sels were captured from the enemy; and more than three- 
thousand prisoners. Upwards of fifty of those were armed; 
carrying nearly six-hundred guns. 

The good effect of these splendid triumphs, in promoting 



244 HISTORY OF 

confidence, soon extended beyond the element on which 
they had been gained. A spirit was, thereby, roused on 
}and ; producing a happy contrast to the previous languor 
of despondence. In the western and southern states, vol- 
unteer corps were, every where, forming, and tendering 
their services to march to any quarter of the Union. Great 
alacrity was shown in the western sections of Pennsylvania 
and Virginia; but this generous zeal was the most forcibly 
displayed in Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. Civil pur- 
suits were, there, forsaken, for the operations of war : pri- 
vate concerns were abandoned, for the general interest of 
the nation ; and this enthusiasm pervaded the bosoms of 
every sex and every age. Females, in the humblest, as well 
as in the highest, rank of life, prepared military clothing 
and knapsacks for their relatives and friends. In a fev/ 
weeks, upwards of four-thousand volunteers w^ere, in these 
states, ready for the field. The command of the Kentucky 
forces was assigned to general Payne ; those of Ohio were 
placed under general Tupper ; and the troops of Virginia 
and Pennsylvania, respectively, under generals Crooks and 
Leftwich. General Harrison v/as invested with the supreme 
command; and, by his subsequent exertions against the In- 
dians, near the Wabash, the Miami of the Lakes, and other 
places in that distant quarter, maintained the confidence 
merited by his previous operations. 

Towards the close of the year, the American forces on 
the northern frontier were concentrated cliiefly in two 
bodies: one division near Lewistown ; consisting of some 
regulars newly enlisted, and militia, under general Van 
Renssalaer of New York: the other, in the neighbourhood 
of Plattsburg and Greenbush ; under the commander in 
chief, general Dearborne. The former was named the 
army of the Centre ; to distinguish it from the division of 
Harrison: the latter, the army of the North. Some regu- 
lars and militia were stationed also at Black Rock, Ogdens- 
burgh, and Sackett's Harbour. It was expected, that, be- 
fore October, every thing would be ready for a formidable 
invasion of Canada. But, from an extraordinary cause, 
there was experienced considerable disappointment. Un- 
friendly to the M^ar, particularly to its being made offen- 
sive, the governors of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and 
Connecticut, refused to allow the militia of these states to 
march, under the requisition of the president. They de- 
clared, that they were, themselves, the proper judges, in 
Hccordance with the federal constitution, of the necessity 



THE UNITED STATES. 245 

which mii^ht require them in the field. Their refusal de- 
layed, for a short time, the intended movements, but did 
not depress the spirits of the troops collected. Dearborne, 
who had been appointed in consequence of his experience 
in the revolutionary war, aided by general Smyth, who was 
considered an able tactician; together with such officers as 
Pike, Boyd, and Scott ; was unremittingly engaged in drill- 
ing the undisciplined, and diffusing organization through- 
out the whole. Nearly ten-thousand men were, at length, 
embodied on the northern lines, and skilful sea-officers 
were employed in forming a navy on lakes Erie, Ontario, 
and Champlain. 

An achievement, performed on lake Erie, by lieutenant 
Elliot, in the capture of two British vessels, the Detroit 
and Caledonia, kindled, in a high degree, the ardour of the 
forces. They demanded to be instantly led to the invasion 
of Canada. Unless gratified, some of the volunteers threat- 
ened, immediately to return home. An opportunity was 
soon given by their commander, of ascertaining, whether 
this eagerness was the spirit of the genuine soldier, or the 
puerile rashness of inexperience. General Van Renssalaer 
having resolved to attack the heights of Queenstown, an 
attempt \w<is made, at four in the morning of the llth of 
November, to cross the Niagara. The passage, however, 
could not then be effected. The failure rendered the troops 
almost ungovernable ; and no time was therefore lost in 
preparing for a second trial. Early on the morning of the 
ioth, the men w^ere again embarked, under cover of the 
American batteries ; the force designed to storm the 
heights being divided into two columns ; one, of three- 
hundred militia, under colonel Van Renssalaer ; the other, 
of as many regulars, under colonel Christie ; to be follow- 
ed by colonel Fenwick's artillery and the remainder of the 
army. Van Renssalaer, who led the advance, and directed, 
the entire, having scarcely reached the shore with a hun- 
dred men, when he was severely wounded, the command, 
of his party devolved on captain Ogilvie ; who, at the head 
of this trifling number, drove the enemy with precipitation 
down the hill. The detachment under colonel Christie now 
landed ; and reinforcements arrived from the main body of 
the army. On the other hand, the British received an ac- 
cession of force, with equal rapidity ; general Brock arriv- 
ing with six-hundred regulars. A sanguinary contest en- 
sued. Brock's regiment was put to flight, by an inferior 
body, under Christie i and, in the carnage, he himself with 
2J* 



246 HISTORY OF 

his aid-de-camp was slain. Thinking the victory complete, 
general Van Renssalaer now arrived, for the purpose of 
fortifying a camp against any future attacks, in case the 
enemy were reinforced. But the fortune of the day was 
not yet decided. Joined by several hundred Indians, the 
British, at three o'clock, made another assault, and, at 
the point of the bayonet, were a second time repulsed. 
A third attempt was made; and thrice had the Americans 
been victorious : yet, their equally brave antagonists were 
determined not to leave the field. They were soon rallied; 
and hastened, a fourth time, to regain the disputed ground. 
The American commander was not inattentive to their 
approach. He repassed the river, to quicken the departure 
of the reserve; who, he perceived, were tedious in entering 
the boats. But they positively refused to embark 1 The 
same men, that, in the morning, had reproved the tardy 
movements of their leader, now, with equal insubordina- 
tion, opposed every entreaty to assist him. Threats, sup- 
plications ; appeals to their honour, their patriotism, their 
humanity; were made in vain. More than twelve-hundred 
men, under arms, stood on the opposite beach, as idle 
spectators of their associates' destruction. They pleaded 
constitutional privilege for their desertion : thus, using the 
rights of freemen as an apology for cowardice. 

In the meantime, the engagement was renewed, with 
mutual desperation. The American militia were sooo 
driven off the ground ; the regular soldiers, not above 
three-hundred, were left to sustain the action alone, and at 
length, overpowered by superior numbers, the whole v/ere 
obliged to surrender prisoners of war. These, with their 
brave companions who had fallen in the contest, amounted 
to at least one-thousand. 

During the embarkation, a fire had been opened from 
Fort St. George, on the Canadian shore, against the Amer- 
ican fort, Niagara; which was returned, and continued, on 
both sides, throughout the day. A battery, intrusted to 
captain M'Keon, was managed with conspicuous ability; 
having enveloped in flames several houses, near the British 
works : and, in a few days afterwards, in the time of an- 
other tremendous engagement between the forts, in which 
major Armistead, of the United States artillery, was par- 
ticularly useful, the same officer was again equally distin- 
guished. 

On this occasion, a remarkable instance of female bravery 
ocTurred. The wife of a common soldier, named Doyle? 



THE UNITED STATES. 247 

who had been taken prisoner at Queenstown, incensed to 
a high degree by the captivity of lier husband, volunteered 
her service, and continued to serve red-hot shot until the 
last gun was fired; although the shells from the enemy's 
batteries fell constantly around her. 

Van Renssalaer having resigned, the command devolved 
on general Smyth, of the regular army; who announced, 
in a most conspicuous manner, his resolution of immedi- 
ately retrieving the honour of his country, by another at- 
tack on the Canadian frontier. He accounted for the late 
disasters, by the injudicious operations of his predecessor; 
and invited fresh bands of volunteers, to partake in the 
glory which was to proceed from the well-directed plans 
of a brave and accomplished leader. 

His address promoted considerable animation. Before 
the end of November, he was attended by nearly five- 
thousand men ; consisting of regulars, and volunteers, 
from Pennsylvania, New York, and the town of Baltimore. 
These were carefully drilled, and properly equipped. A 
sufficient number of boats was in readiness to carry them, 
at once, to the scene of action. Two detachments, sent over 
in advance, by their spirited assault, (particularly that led 
by captain King,) gave a cheering presage of success. 
But this bright prospect was soon converted into a sadden- 
ing gloom. A portion of the recent unmilitary feeling, or, 
rather the entire, seemed transfused into the breast of the 
present leader : the embarkation of the main body was re- 
tarded much beyond the appointed time; so. that, when 
twelve o'clock arrived, only two-thousand men had left 
the shore. At this time, the enemy had prepared to op- 
pose their landing, and general Smyth had changed his 
plan of invasion. He ordered, that the troops which were 
on their way should immediately return. Great murmur- 
ing followed this unaccountable proceeding; but it was, in 
some measure, silenced, by the assurance, that he would 
soon make another attempt. The general can scarcely be 
charged with a breach of promise: on the 29th, the entire 
body, except about two-hundred, were in the boats ; the 
men conducting themselves with great order and obedience. 
Nothing was now wanting but the word to move ; when, 
orders were suddenly given for the whole to disembark, 
and make arrangements for going into winter-quarters; as 
the invasion of Canada was postponed until the following 
season. 

A loud burst of indignation assailed the vacillating lead- 



248 HISTORY OF 

er: the greater part of the militia threw down their arms., 
and returned home : much dissatisfaction was every where 
excited ; and his military reputation from that period rap- 
idly declined. 

The army of the North, stationed along the St. Lawrence, 
were, in the meantime, sufficiently energetic. But the la- 
mentable surrender of general Hull having defeated their 
principal design, the capture of Montreal, nothing of im- 
portance was effected before the ensuing year. Captain 
Forsythe and colonel Pike made bold incursions into the 
enemy's country : and general Brown, of the New York 
militia, after a sharp action of two hours, repelled a large 
body of British soldiers; who, in retaliation, had attempted 
the destruction of Ogdensburg. 

The indefatigable exertions of commodore Chauncey, in 
creating a fleet upon the northern lakes, produced most 
beneficial results. During the revolutionary war, the oper- 
ations on these inland seas extended not beyond the con- 
tests of temporary gun-boats, or inconsiderable schooners ; 
but, at this time, preparations were making, from which, 
arose, a sublimity of combat, not less interesting than the 
battles on the extended waves of the Atlantic. In the be- 
ginning of October, the Americans had not a single armed 
vessel on lake Erie, and their whole force on lake Ontario 
was a brig carrying sixteen guns. The coinmodore began 
his operations on the former in the first week of November. 
His fleet then consisted of the Oneida of sixteen guns, and 
five smaller vessels, carrying all together thirty-two guns ; 
whilst the British squadron carried upwards of a hundred; 
yet, notwithstanding this great inequality of strength, he 
occasionally skirmished with squadrons of the enemy; at 
ane time, causing the flight of the Royal George of twenty- 
six, and at another, capturing the Prince Regent schooner 
of eighteen guns. 

Thus, the navy had been invariably successful, and the 
army, though equally brave, when brought into action, had 
been, in almost every instance, unfortunate. The one had 
been the early favourite of the party that now opposed the 
war ; the other, considered, by the ministerial adherents, 
as the only means of national defence, (excepting gun- 
boats,) worthy of attention. When congress re-assembled 
in November, the glory of the seamen was contrasted with 
the misfortunes of the army, as a fresh argument against 
the measures of the existing government. Party spirit rose 
to an alarming height 9 and, as usual, the members of the 



THE UNITED STATES. 249 

several legislatures were not less under its influence, in 
their public, than in their private situations. Mutual 
charges were made, of French control and improper sub- 
mission to the outrages of Britain. Some degree of justice 
seemed to be on the pacific side ; yet, the advocates for 
war were able to produce arguments, equally meriting at- 
tention. A proposal for an armistice, made by the govern- 
or of Canada, had been thought inadmissible; and a simi- 
lar offer by admiral Warren, was, on the same principle, 
rejected : but, on the other hand, the American minister at 
London had made a pacific overture, which proved abor- 
tive ; and a mediation offered to the British government^ 
by the emperor of Russia, was equally ineffectual. 

Congress had not been long in session, when the public 
feelings were once more excited by most flattering news. 
The flag of another British frigate was transferred to the 
capitol, and placed amongst the former trophies of the 
American navy. This achievement was gained by the 
Constitution ; a vessel already distinguished under the 
command of captain Hull, and now bearing the flag of 
commodore Bainbridge. In October, this frigate, with the 
Hornet, captain Lawrence, sailed from New York, to effect 
a junction with the Essex, commodore Porter; which de- 
parted about the same time from the Delaware: the whole 
intending to cruise in the Pacific Ocean, and destroy, in 
that quarter, the British fisheries and commerce. The 
junction not happening at the place appointed, commodore 
Porter passed round Cape Horn, alone ; and, in the meanr 
time, on the 29th of December, a few leagues west of St. 
Salvador, the Constitution, which had, a few days before^^ 
separated from the Hornet, descried a British frigate. Af- 
ter a severe action, which continued about an hour, the 
enemy lay an unmanageable wreck. Having struck her 
colours, she was found to be the Java, commanded by a 
gallant officer, captain Lambert; who was mortally wound- 
ed. Besides her own crew, of four-hundred men, she had 
a hundred, designed for service in the East Indies : also, a 
number of distinguished passengers; amongst whom, was 
general Hislop, governor of Bombay. The Constitution 
had nine killed and twenty-five wounded ; the Java, sixty 
killed, and a hundred-and-twcnty wounded. The prize was 
in a miserable condition. It being found impossible to 
bring her into port, she was, in a few days afterwards, 
blov/n up. On arrivinp; at St. Salvador, the commodore 
received the public acknQwledgments of governor Hislop; 



250 HISTORY OF 

who, in consideration of his polite treatment, presented him 
with an elegant sword. The private passengers were re- 
leased, without being viewed as prisoners : those holding 
situations under their government, as well as the officers 
and crew, were liberated on parole. 

A melancholy contrast to this gratifying incident 
was soon offered to the public mind. Fresh disas- 
ters in the west, accompanied by circumstances that rarely 
occur in the annals of history, tended greatly to check the 
national joy, for that second victory of the Constitution. 

General Harrison had fixed his head quarters at Frank- 
linton; his object being to concentrate a respectable force 
at the Rapids, and, thence, proceed to the reduction of 
Detroit. In the meantime, general Winchester continued 
at Fort Defiance, with about eight-hundred men ; many of 
the volunteers having returned home, after the expiration 
of the term of service. Those who remained were chiefly 
from Kentucky : the greater part ranked amongst the 
wealthiest and most distinguished citizens of the state. 
Early in the month of January, general Winchester, having 
received intimation from the inhabitants of Frenchtown, a 
village situated on the river Raisin, between the Rapids 
and Detroit, that a large body of the British and Indians 
designed to concentrate there ; and that they dreaded the 
horrors of an Indian massacre; the sensibility of the young 
volunteers was strongly excited, and they earnestly be- 
sought the general to lead them to their defence. W^ith 
some reluctance, and, contrary to the arrangements of the 
commander in chief, he yielded to their wishes. Accord- 
ingly, he sent forward a detachment, under colonels Lewis 
and Allen, with orders to wait at Presque Isle until the 
arrival of the main body. An advanced party of the enemy 
having already taken possession of Frenchtown, it was de- 
termined instantly to attack them. There followed a se- 
vere conflict. But the British were at length defeated, 
pursued by a continual charge for many miles, and entirely 
dispersed. The Americans then encamped, and remained 
in their position until the 20th; when they were joined by 
general Winchester. His whole force was now about 
§even-hundred-and-fifty men. Of these, six-hundred were 
placed within a breast-work, and the remainder encamped 
in an open field. But they were allowed only a short res- 
pite from fatigue. On the morning of the 22d, they were 
suddenly attacked by a combined force, under general 
|*roc^or and the Indian leaders, Split-Log and Roijnd-Head^ 



THE UNITED STATES. 251 

and, though quickly ready for their reception, their strength 
was every moment failing. It was fruitless to contend with 
the enemy's superior numbers. In order to preserve the 
remainder of his brave party, the general surrendered them 
prisoners of war; on condition of their being allowed to re- 
tain their private property and side arms, and of being pro- 
tected against the usual fury of the Indians. At this time, 
the killed, wounded, and missing, of the little army, amount- 
ed to more than three-hundred. But the loss during the 
engagement was the least deplorable disaster. Instead of 
being guarded by the British soldiers, the prisoners were, 
with few exceptions, assigned to the charge of the Indians, 
to be marched in the amiy's rear, to Maiden ; and the 
greater part were murdered on the way. Those who had 
escaped the dreadful tomahawk or scalping knife, were re- 
served, by the cruel escort, for an abominable traffic. They 
were dragged from door to door through the streets of De- 
troit, and offered to the inhabitants for sale. 

The people of Detroit exhibited a degree of tenderness 
for their unfortunate countrymen, which entitles them to 
everlasting gratitude. All classes eagerly sought oppor- 
tunities of redeeming the unhappy captives. For their pur- 
chase, many parted with every thing of value. The female 
sex were particularly conspicuous for their sympathy : they 
promptly bartered what clothing they could spare ; next, 
their ear-rings, and, when nothing else remained, the blan- 
kets from their beds. Mr. Woodward, formerly a judge 
of the supreme court, was a father to the survivers. He 
remonstrated v»'ith general Proctor in the manly tone of his 
injured country ; depicting, in appalling language, his in- 
famous behaviour. Several of the British officers, also, are 
deserving of praise : particularly, major Muir, captains 
Aiken and Curtis; the reverend Mr. Parrow and Dr. Bowen. 

The news of this melancholy affair reached general Har- 
rison when on his march to Frenchtown with a reinforce- 
ment. He had heard, with displeasure, the unauthorized 
movement of general Winchester: apprehending the result, 
had then ordered a detachment to push forward to his relief: 
and, now, sent on a chosen body, to save any ofthe wretch- 
ed party who might have escaped. But their number was 
very small : the snow, being deep, rendered it almost im- 
possible for them to make their way. 

Shortly afterwards, the general erected at the Rapids a 
defence; named by him in honour of the governor of Ohio, 
Fort Meigs.- The enemy had been, for some time pasty 



252 HISTORY OF 

collecting in considerable numbers, for the purpose of be- 
sieging this place ; which, as the troops expected from Ohio 
and Kentucky had not yet arrived, was in considerable dan- 
ger : but the Pennsylvania brigade, under general Cooks, 
although its term of service had expired, volunteered for 
its protection. This fort is situated on a rising ground, a 
few hundred yards distant from the river ; the banks of 
which are chiefly natural meadows. With the aid of cap- 
tains Wood and Gratiot, his two principal engineers, the 
general laboured, night and day, to strengthen its fortifica- 
tions : the garrison, amounting to about twelve-hundred 
men, being in high spirits, and resolved to defend them- 
selves to the last extremity. — On the first of May, the Brit- 
ish commenced a fire, with one twenty-four pounder, one 
twelve, a six pounder, and a howitzer. By these, no mater- 
ial injury was done ; though general Harrison narrowly 
escaped being killed : a ball struck a ber.ch on which he 
was sitting, and, at another time, a man was mortally 
wounded by his side. On the 3d, an additional battery as- 
sailed the American works, at the distance of about two- 
hundred-and -fifty yards, furnished with a mortar ; which, 
after throwing a number of bombs, was completely silenced. 
The Indians now mounted on the trees, fired into the fort, 
and killed and wounded several of the garrison. At this 
time, the levies under general Clay, were seen approaching, 
and orders were instantly sent to this officer to detach eight- 
hundred men, for the purpose of landing on the opposite 
side of the river, and destroying the enemy's batteries; a 
sortie from the garrison being, in the meantime, projected, 
against the battery erected on the same side with the fort. 
Colonel Dudley, who was charged with the performance of 
the first, overcame the four batteries in an instant, compel- 
ling their defenders to retire ; and, having executed his or- 
ders, commanded a retreat. But his men, elated by suc- 
cess, and eager to avenge the recent slaughter of their coun- 
trymen, pushed forward, with irresistible impetuosity. The 
consequence was dreadful. In a few moments, they were 
surrounded by an Indian army, three times their number, 
headed by the brave Tecumseh ; a desperate fight ensued, 
and a scene of slaughter almost as terrible as at the river 
Raisin. Only a hundred-and -fifty escaped : the rest were 
either killed or taken prisoners. Colonel Dudley was 
amongst the slain ; a melancholy sacrifice to rashness and 
insubordination. 

This, in some measure disconcerted the plan of the Sortie 



THE UNITED STATES. 25S 

fe'orn the fort. Yet, colonel Miller sallied out at the head 
of three-hundred men, assaulted the besiegers' entire line, 
though manned by three-hundred-and-fifty regulars and as 
many Indians, spiked the cannon of the principal batteries, 
and returned with above forty prisoners. 

Happily, this was the last occasion requiring the garrison 
to display their active bravery. The Indians, after their 
successful ambuscade, having, according to their usual cus- 
tom, returned home, notwithstanding the entreaties of Te- 
cumseh and his subordinate chieftains, general Proctor 
made instant preparations to retreat ; when, a cessation of 
hostilities taking place, arrangements were entered into for 
an exchange of prisoners, and, on the 9th of May, after an 
assault of thirteen days, the enemy withdrew. 

The termination of this siege was glorious to the defend- 
ers, and reflected lustre on the American army. It taught 
their enemies, that, in future, they must expect to meet a 
resistance ditferent from what they had experienced from 
Hull; and, that if they Would succeed in overcoming an 
American fortress, they must previously destroy the gar- 
rison. 

Designing to organize the expected forces, general Har- 
rison returned to Franklinton. Here, a deputation from all 
the Indian tribes residing in Ohio, and some of the territo- 
ries of Indiana and Illinois, having made a tender of their 
services to follow him into Canada, their offer, after some 
deliberation, was accepted ; as, hitherto, the United States 
employed none of the friendly Indians, with the exception 
of a small band commanded by Logan, a distinguished chief, 
a nephew of Tccumseh. They were advised to remain 
neutral. But the advice could not be understood by these 
warlike people : they considered it rather as a reproach upon 
their courage, than a desire to promote their welfare ; es- 
pecially, as several inroads had been n" ade upon their set- 
tlements by the hostile tribes « for which reason, general 
Harrison now consented to their wishes ; on condition that 
they should be merciful to their prisoners, and, in all things, 
conform to the established rules of civilized warfare. 

Our attention is next drawn to the military operations on 
the northern frontier; where, events of a very important 
character had occurred. 

During the winter. Great Britain had sent a number of 
troops to Halifax ; for the purpose of ascending the St. Law- 
rence in the spring, and being in early readiness to aid in 
the defence of Canada. Recent victories of the allied sov- 
^2 



254 HISTORY OF 

creigns on the European continent, by which. Napoleon's 
gigantic power was almost annihilated, had decreased her 
necessity, and, consequently, her desire, of pacification with 
the United States. A larger force could therefore be di- 
rected against her trans-atlantic enemies ; and, besides, the 
militia of her American provinces were disciplined with 
peculiar care. 

By an exchange of prisoners, many valuable officers, tak- 
en in the first campaign, were restored to the American 
army. The troops enlisted in the middle and northern dis- 
tricts, were marched to Sackett's Harbour and other places 
in the neighbourhood; where, by the indefatigable industry 
of Pike, now promoted to the rank of brigadier general, 
they were converted into efficient soldiers. 

The first interesting engagement, in that quarter, took 
place on the 21st of February; when, the British, with' 
twelve-hundred men, having attacked Ogdensburg, com- 
pelled the Americans, under colonels Forsythe and Bene- 
dict, to evacuate the place. The vanquished troops, however, 
had, soon afterwards, an opportunity of silencing the tri- 
umphs displayed by the enemy on this occasion. Lake On- 
tario was no sooner clear of ice, than a descent on the Cana- 
da shore was projected ; the first object of attack, being 
York, the capital of the upper province, the depot of the 
British military stores for supplying their western posts, 
and a place of great importance to the success of either 
party. The plan, chiefly suggested by general Pike, was 
highly judicious ; and, at his particular request, general 
Dearborne, intrusted him with its execution. On the 27th 
of April, the troops, escorted by commodore Chauncey, who 
rendered most important assistance, reached the place of 
debarkation, at the ruins of Torento, about ten miles from 
the town of York. Major Forsythe, and his corps of rifle- 
men, were the first on shore, amidst a galling fire of musk- 
etry, and were in a moment engaged with the whole force. 
General Pike followed; and, afterwards, a detachment under 
major King ; consisting of the light artillery, a volunteer 
corps, and a few riflemen, commanded by major Eustace, 
colonel M'Clure, and lieutenant Riddle. Placing himself 
at the head of the first formed, general Pike ordered the 
rest to follow rapidly, and ascended the bank against a show- 
er of bullets from the grenadiers. He charged with impetu- 
osity : they were thrown into confusion, and fled. Scarcely 
was this achieved, when the bugles of Forsythe announced 
that he, also, had been victorious. — A fresh body of the 



THE UNITED STATES. 255 

Quemy's grenadiers now suddenly issued from the woods ; 
making a desperate charj^e on major King's regiment. It 
faltered for a moment ; but immediately rallied, and drove 
the British from the field. Again, they were seen forming 
at a distance ; but reinforcements having, by this time, land- 
ed from the fleet, they retreated from the adjacent garrison. 

The American troops were now arranged according to 
the intended order of battle. They moved forward with 
becoming ardour and veteran precision. They confided in 
their leader, and their leader placed a well-grounded confi- 
dence in them. On emerging from a wood, a twenty-four 
pounder opened from one of the enemy's batteries : but this 
was soon taken, and the column moved on to the second, 
which was abandoned on their approach. General Pike 
here ordered his men to halt ; for the purpose of learning 
the strength of the garrison of York, and obtaining other 
information ; for, as the barracks appeared to be evacuated, 
he suspected a stratagem, to draw him within the reach of 
some secret force. Lieutenant Riddle was sent forward to 
ascertain the enemy's situation. Meanwhile, the heroic Pike, 
as humane as he was brave, occupied himself in removing 
a wounded British soldier from a place of danger ; and, after 
performing this act of generosity, was calmly seated on the 
stump of a tree, in conversation with another soldier who 
had been taken prisoner; when, suddenly, the air was con^ 
vulsed by a tremendous explosion. The British magazine, 
at the distance of two-hundred yards, near the barracks, 
had blown up. Huge stones and fragments of wood were 
rent asunder, and whirled aloft, by the exploding of five- 
hundred barrels of gunpowder. Immense quantities of 
those fell in the midst of the victorious column, killing and 
wounding upwards of two-hundred men. Among.":* the 
Avounded, was general Pike. But the Americans, though 
for a moment confounded, soon recovered their former or- 
der : the ranks were instantly closed, and their undaunted 
spirit was evinced by three loud huzzas. 

The wound of the gallant Pike was soon found to be 
mortal ; yet he still retained the fire and solicitude of the 
soldier and commander. " Move on, my brave fellows," 
he exchumcd, " and revenge your general." They instant- 
ly obeyed. He was then carried on board a vessel, and, 
shortly afterwards, gratified by the sight of the British flag. 
On seeing the victorious trophy, his eyes, over which ap- 
proaching death had already drawn the prophetic film, for 



256 HISTORY OF 

a moment, resumed their lustre ; and, making signs for it 
to be placed under his head, he contentedly expired. 

After a short delay, the Americans, under colonel Pearce, 
moved forward towards the town, and, on their way, were 
met by an oifer of capitulation. The public stores were as- 
signed to the invaders, and all the troops surrendered pris- 
oners of war. The British loss, in men, amounted to seven^ 
hundred-and-iifty, in killed, wounded, and captured ; of the 
latter, there were fifty of the line and five-hundred militia. 
The public property destroyed was immense ; and that which 
was reserved uninjured, amounted in value to at least half 
a million of dollars. 

The object of the expedition being now fully attained^ 
the American forces evacuated York on the 1st of May, 
and re-embarked; but the fleet did not leave the harbour, 
until the 8th. 

An attack on Fort George, and Fort Erie, unsuccessful- 
ly attempted the year before, was the next thing to be un- 
dertaken. Accordingly, on the mornuig of the 28th, a se- 
vere cannonade between the opposite batteries having oc- 
curred the day before, decidedly advantageous to the Amer- 
icans, generals Dearborne and Lewis embarked, with their 
whole force, amounting to four-thousand men. The ad- 
vance, under colonel Scott, consisting of five-hundred, was 
exposed, in approaching the shore, to incessant volleys of 
musketry, from at least t%velve-hundred regulars, stationed 
in a ravine; yet, they faltered not a moment: no sooner 
were they formed on the beach, than they were led to the 
charge, and dispersed the enemy. Meanwhile, the works, 
on each side of the river, were furiously engaged. Fort 
George bei:,g in a short time rendered untenable, the Brit- 
ish, l:iying trains to their magazines, hastily retired. The 
American light companies took possession of the abandon- 
ed works ; captains Hyndman and Stockton entering first, 
and extinguishing the fire intended to create the explosion. 
The former withdrev/ a match at the imminent hazard of 
his life. Before twelve o'clock, the whole of the fortifica- 
tions in that quarter were surmounted by the American 
flag: the enemy having lost, in killed and v/ounded, above 
two-hundred-and-fifty men, besides six-hundred prisoners ; 
their antagonists, only thirty-nine killed and a hundred-and- 
eight wounded. High praise was given by the commodore 
and the general to the forces under their respective orders. 
Scott and Boyd were particularly mentioned ; and much 
honour was gained by colonel M. Porter and major Arm- 



THE UNITED STATES. 247 

istead of the artillery ; by captain Totten of the engineers, 
and lieutenant Oliver H. Perry of the navy. Commodore 
Cliuuncey himself bore a distinguished part in this splendid 
enterprise ; the judicious attack with his vessels, on the 
different batteries, having largely contributed to its suc- 
cess. 

A few days afterwards, it became known, that the enemy, 
under general Vincent, amounting to fifteen-hundred men, 
had encamped on the heights at the head of Burlington 
bay. The American commander determined to allow them 
no repose. A force, therefore, much superior in numbers, 
under Chandler and Winder, in a short time arrived with- 
in a few miles of their position; using every means, as well 
to prevent their escape, as to guard against surprise. The 
situation of the British army was almost hopeless. To con- 
tend openly, would have been the last refuge of despair ; 
yet, what could not be gained by this alternative, might, 
notwithstanding, be accomplished by address. Their com- 
mander resolved to try the fortune of an attack in the night. 
The fires kindled by the Americans, whilst they guided the 
assailants to their camp, served to conceal them during 
their approach. Several of the American sentinelsy owing 
to the extreme negligence of the main guard, were silently 
bayoneted by the enemy ; who, to the number of seven or 
eight-hundred, passed them when asleep. The assailants 
now raised a tremendous Indian yell. The main body of 
the Americans were, by this, suddenly awoke, and, seizing 
their arms, commenced a heavy and destructive fire. An 
awful combat immediately overspread the encampment. A 
scene of confusion followed, equally distressing to the com- 
manders, and difficult of delineation. The soldiers of one 
party were intermingled with those of the other; the dark- 
ness of the night rendered friends undistinguishable from 
foes, and the irregular firing of the whole prevented the 
respective orders being heard. General Chandler was at 
length entangled amongst the enemy ; general Winder 
soon afterwards found himself in the same situation, and 
both were taken prisoners. Finding two pieces of artillery 
limbered, the British drove them off, overturned others, 
hastily retired, and, before day-light, concealed themselves 
with the main body in a wood. The Americans returned 
to Fort George; harassed, nearly the whole way, by the In- 
dians, and their disappointment rendered still more griev- 
ous, from the capture, by an armed schooner, of nearly all 
their eamp equipage and baggage. 
22* 



258 HISTORY OF 

The movement of general Dearborne against the fortin- 
cations on the Niagara, was attended wich imminent dan- 
ger to Sackett's Harbour. In his absence, it experienced 
a formidable attack. Sir George Prevost having embark- 
ed, with a thousand men, on board the fleet of sir James 
Yeo, scarcely had commodore Chauncey arrived at Niaga- 
ra, when the British squadron appeared off the harbour. 
An alarm was immediately given. General Brown, with 
about a thousand men, of every description — seamen, ar- 
tillerists, militia invalids, and volunteers, made the best 
preparation that the occurrence would permit. At the on- 
ly place of landing, he hastily raised a battery and breast- 
work ; behind which, some militia and artillery were sta- 
tioned ; and the remainder of his forces, in a second line 
near the public buildings. The approach of the enemy's 
boats, did not, at first, disturb the firmness of the militia, 
who formed the front line ; but, when they had discharged 
their muskets, they were seized by a sudden panic, and 
neither threats nor entreaties could arrest their flight. A 
sharp conflict now began, with the regulars and artillery 
under colonel Backus: who retired gradually; taking pos- 
session of the houses and barracks, and continuing to an- 
jioy the assailants from the windows. At this time, the 
liopes of the American commander revived. Ashamed of 
xheir panic, (to which, indeed, the bravest troops, if inex- 
perienced, are subject,) a considerable part of the militia 
had rallied near the scene of action : with these, general 
Brown marched silently through the woods, in apparent 
secrecy, yet intending to be discovered. The stratagem 
was successful. Believing that his rear was in danger of 
assault, and perhaps informed that a strong reinforcement 
to the Americans was approaching, the British commander 
©rdered a retreat, and, leaving his dead and wounded on 
the field, hastily embarked. 

The attack, however, although repulsed, created con- 
siderable damage. Supposing that his friends were en- 
tirely beaten, commodore Chauncey, agreeably with a pre- 
vious arrt^ngement, set fire to the public store-houses, and, 
before the flames were suppressed, the destruction was ex- 
tensive. 

General Dearborne, having been, for some time, labour- 
ing under a severe indisposition, now retired from service; 
assigning Fort George to the care of colonel Boyd. The 
American arms scon afterwards experienced a severe re- 
verse, by an irrational attack on a British party at La 



THE UNITED STATES. 259 

Coose's Ilouse, about seventeen miles from the fort : and 
on the 8th of July a general skirmish ensued, without any 
advantage remaining on either side. Losses were frequent- 
ly occurring, from the peculiar warfare of the Indians : 
Boyd, therefore, considering the forbearance, hitherto ob- 
served, in refusing the service of the friendly tribes, inju- 
rious to the army, accepted the aid of the Seneca nation, 
having about four-hundred warriors, under young Corn- 
planter: with a stipulation of the same nature as that en- 
tered into by the western Indians with general Harrison. 
On the last day of July, twelve-hundred British landed at 
Plattsburg, destroyed the public stores, and carried oft" 
large quantities of individual property; interesting engage- 
ments continued between sir James Yeo and commodore 
Chauncey ; in which, the latter, though he contended with 
the utmost gallantry and skill, suffered occasional defeats. 

During the first year of the war, the Atlantic shore en- 
joyed a state of comparative peace. Early in the spring, 
however, a devastating mode of hostility began, against the 
most exposed southern states ; a distinction having been 
made between the north and south: from a belief that the 
northern states were not only unfriendly to the war, but 
strongly inclined to separate from the Union, and return 
to their former allegiance under the king of England. On 
the 4th of February, a British squadron, consisting of tw© 
ships of the line, three frigates, and some shipping of in- 
ferior size, ascended the Chesapeake, destroyed the small 
vessels employed in navigating the bay, and effectually 
blockaded its entire waters. About the same time, another 
squadron, under admiral Beresforcl, entered the Delaware, 
and, on the 10th of April, demanded from the people iu 
the village of Lewistown a supply of provisions : which 
were spiritedly refused by colonel Davis ; the oilicer com- 
manding at this place. The frigate Belvidera then moved 
near the village, and commenced a furious bombardment. 
But this mode of obtaining a supply was equally ineffective* 
Her fire being returned from a small baitery hastily erect- 
ed on the shore, after a cannonade of twenty-four hours, 
the attempt was relinquished. Another trial, near the same 
place, in the ensuing month, met a similar opposition: th& 
admiral having attempted to land a party from his barges, 
major Hunter, who was detached by colonel Davis with a 
hundred-and-fifty men, made so gallant a resistance, that 
he compelled them to hasten to the shipping : soon after 
which, the squadron returned to Bermuda, 



260 HISTORY OF 

In the meantime, scenes of the most distressing kind 
were presented in the Chesapeake. Admiral Cockburn 
was satiating his unmanly and unsoldierlike propensities, 
in a species of warfare, at once reflecting dishonour on the 
brave and generous character of the British navy, staining 
his own memory with indelible reproach, and embittering, 
for ages, that antipathy, which, since the early period of 
the revolution, was still existing. Having taken possession 
of several islands in the bay, particularly Sharp's, Tilgh- 
man's, and Poplar islands, he could make an easy descent 
upon the neighbouring shores. At first, his depredations 
were directed against the farm-houses and seats of private 
gentlemen. These were plundered, their owners, in the 
rudest manner, insulted; and cattle which could not be 
removed were wantonly destroyed. This devastating hos- 
tility was, in a short time, practised on a bolder and more 
extensive scale. Frcnchtown and Havre de Grace; the one 
a village situated on Elk River, the other, a more consid- 
erable town, higher up the bay, on the Susquehanna, and 
both places of deposit for military and mercantile property, 
in its passage between Baltimore and Philadelphia; were 
plundered and entirely burned. Georgetown and Fred- 
ericktown, two beautiful visages on the river Sassafras, 
experienced a similar destruction. The opposition made 
by the few inhabitants and militia who hastily assembled, 
was unavailing, against five-hundred well disciplined ma-- 
rines. The people of Frenchtown, after firing a few shots, 
lied on the enemy's approach ; with the exception of an 
old Hibernian, named O'Ncil. This heroic citizen con- 
tinued the battle, alone ; lor;ding a piece of artillery, and 
firing it himself, until, by recoiling, it ran over his leg and 
wounded him severely; and even then, exchanging his 
piece of ordnance for a musket, and limping away, he still 
kept up a retreating fight with the advanced column of the 
British. He was, at length, made prisoner, but, soon after- 
wards, released. — The behaviour of colonel Veazy and a 
small party at Fredericktown, was equally deserving of 
applause. Aided by a few militia, the remainder of fifty 
who had opposed the enemy on their landing, this brave 
officer continued a steady and well directed fire, until longer 
delay would bring inevitable destruction upon themselvesj 
and increased severity upon the neighbourhood. 

The arrival of Admiral Warren augmented the British 
naval force in the Chesapeake, to a formidable number. 
Seven ships of the line and twelve frigates, with a pro- 



THE UNITED STATES. 261 

portional attendance of smaller vessels, and a large body of 
land troops accompanied by sir Sidney Beckwith, held un- 
disturbed possession of the bay. The unguarded villages 
had already felt the unsparing hand of barbarous warf4re : 
the strongest cities were now in danger of destruction. 
i3altimore, Annapolis, and Norfolk, were equally in ex- 
pectation of assault. 

Norfolk was destined as the first object of attack. The 
naval and military commanders were alike active in making 
preparations against the impending danger. Commodore 
Cassin, having received intelligence that a squadron of the 
enemy had arrived in Hampton Roads, ordered that the 
frigate Constellation should he anchored between the two 
forts, which command the approach to Norfolk; and that 
the gun-boat flotilla, under captain Tarbell, should engage 
the foremost of the enemy. Ten-thousand militia were 
already assembled in the town. The flotilla did consider- 
able damage to one of the advancing frigates; but was soon 
under the necessity of retiring. Four days afterwards, (on 
the 22d of June,) the British were discerned approaching, 
with about four-thousand land troops; whom, they endea- 
voured to disembark on Craney Island, out of the reach of 
the American gun-boats. But, in avoiding one danger, 
they encountered another, more destructive. A battery, 
under the direction of lieutenant Neale, was managed with 
so much precision, that several of their boats were cut in 
two, the admircus barge was sunk, and the whole force, 
after half their number had landed, compelled to make a 
precipitate retreat. Nor was this the only scene of their 
disappointment. A large body who had disembarked on 
the main shore, were not less ably resisted by the Virginia 
volunteers, on their crossing the narrow inlet to the west. 
Here, too, they were forced to relinquish the attempt ; 
their loss, altogether, being two-hundred in killed and 
wounded, besides a number who seized the opportunity of 
deserting. The Americans lost not a single man. 

The safety of Norfolk, as well as of Gosport, Portsmouth, 
and other places, is to be attributed to the resolute defence 
of Craney Island. The conduct of lieutenant Neale and 
his equally brave companions, Shubrick, Saunders, and 
Breckenridge, was gratefully acknowledged by the inhab- 
itants ; and colonel Beaty and his officers were no less en- 
titled to applause. 

Changing the mode of approach, the enemy determined 
on proceeding against Hampton ; a town, distant about 



262 HISTORY OF 

eighteen miles from Norfolk. The fortifications of this 
place were of small importance : the garrison was weak ; 
not exceeding four-hundred men. Possessed of this place, 
it was thought that Norfolk would be the more easily sub- 
dued ; as its communication with the upper country would 
then be entirely interrupted. On the 25th, admiral Cock- 
burn advanced, with a number of barges, tenders, and small- 
er vessels; throwing rockets, and firing towards the town: 
while general Beckwith landed below, at the head of two- 
thousand m.en; intending to march up and gain the Amer- 
ican rear. But the admiral was so warmly received by ma- 
jor Crutchfield, the officer commanding at Hampton, who 
opened against him a few pieces of artillery, that he was 
compelled, instantly, to withdraw, and conceal his men be- 
hind a point. 

The general now appeared, and was severely galled by 
a rifle company under captain Servant, which had been 
posted in a wood. Major Crutchfield soon afterwards 
brought his infantry to their support ; but, finding himself 
unable to stand against numbers so superior, he retreated. 
The enemy were rapidly gaining ground. Captain Pryor, 
who had been left to command the battery that had opposed 
them in their landing, when the royal marines had ap- 
proached within sixty yards, and his party were in imme- 
diate danger of being captured, ordered the guns to be 
spiked ; and, charging upon the enemy, threw them into 
confusion : by which act of desperation, he effected his 
escape, without losing any of his men. Altogether, the 
Americans lost, in killed and wounded, nineteen ; the Brit- 
ish, thirty-eight. 

With painful feeling, and reluctance, we here record the 
barbarities that followed. Unwilling to perpetuate the re- 
collection of atrocities, and, consequently, prolong the hos- 
tile feeling towards the British, we would pass them over 
in silence ; yet, a brief memorial seems imperiously re- 
quired, to animate the exertions of every citizen against 
invasion at a future day. The troops employed in the at- 
tack on Craney Island, were chiefly of the vilest description ; 
prisoners taken from the French armies in Spain : who had 
entered the British service with a view of rewarding their 
own desertion by the plunder of their friends. No sooner 
was the town in possession of these wretches, than leave 
was given them to satiate the worst passions of corrupted 
nature. Neither age nor sex, sickness nor decrepitude of 
years, restrained the monstrous cruelties of these barbaii- 



THE UNITED STATES. ,2^S 

aas. Some justification of their enomiities was offered by 
the British commander. When appealed to by general 
Taylor, sir Sidney Beckwith declared, that excesses were 
permitted in retaliation for the conduct of the Americans 
at Crancy Island, in shooting at a crew of English seamen, 
who had clung to their barge when overset ; nevertheless, 
that the troops had proceeded to a degree of severity, un- 
warranted, and that, on learning the extent of their enor- 
mities, he had ordered them to re-embark. The Ameri- 
cans, however, deny the existence of that ground of retalia- 
tion ; it having, after solemn inquiry, appeared, that they 
had acted with uniform humanity. 

During the remainder of the summer, the British were 
employed, chiefly, in threatening Washington, Annapolis, 
and Baltimore. Admiral Cockburn was permitted to follow 
his inclination, by moving with a large squadron to the 
south ; where he carried on, in the Carolinas and in Geor- 
gia, the same species of warfare so extensively practised 
by him in the Chesapeake. 

To this, a pleasing contrast was shown, in the deportment 
of commodore Hardy; who commanded a squadron off the 
northern states. His conduct was brave, honourable, and 
humane : whilst performing his duty as a British officer, 
he did not forget the laws of established warfare: he fought 
the battles of his country ; but, with the severity of the sol- 
dier, he blended the mildness of the Christian. 

The United States now so justly estimated the value of 
their marine department, that congress, during the last 
session, authorized the building of several additional ves- 
sels. 

This confidence, arising from the success of the past, 
was not disappointed by the achievements of the future. 
Succeeding victories were equally splendid with the former. 
The arrival of the Hornet gave another addition to the 
long catalogue of marine attainments. Captain Lawrence 
had been ordered to blockade a British ship of war at St. 
Salvador ; which vessel was formerly challenged by the 
Hornet ; but, unwilling to risk the loss of a large amount of 
silver, she thought it prudent, though of superior force, to 
decline the combat. The Hornet afterwards sailed for Per- 
nambuco ; on the 4th of February, captured an English 
brig often guns, with above twenty-thousand dollars; then, 
sailed along the coast of Maranham, and on the 22d steered 
for Demerara. The next day, captain Lawrence engaged 
a large national armed brig, the Peacock; pouring into her 



364 HISTORY OF 

so heavy a fire, that, in fifteen minutes, she not only surren- 
dered, but hoisted a signal of distress. She was cut alniqpt 
to pieces, and had already six feet of water in her hold. 
The sea rushed impetuously through her wounds ; threat- 
ening every moment to ingulf her. A party were immedi- 
ately sent to remove her crew onboard the Hornet. They 
found, that her captain had been killed, that the greater 
part of her men were either killed or wounded, and that 
she was rapidly sinking, notwithstanding all their eflbrts to 
keep her above the water. Her guns were now thrown over- 
board, the shot-holes stopped, v/hilst a part of the Hornet's 
crew laboured strenuously to save the vanquished. But 
the utmost exertions of these generous men were unavail- 
ing : she sunk, in the midst of them ; carrying down nine 
of her own men, and three of the Americans. 

Hitherto, invariable success had attended the navy ; but, 
for a while, Great Britain seemed to have regained her an- 
cient character of invincibility. Perhaps, this change was 
beneficial to the United States. A longer continuance of 
victory might have relaxed that vigorous discipline, which, 
the want of confidence, not experience, had established. 

On the 10th of April, a few days after the arrival of the 
Hornet, the Chesapeake frigate returned to Boston, from a 
four months' cruise; when, her commander, captain Evans, 
being appointed to the New York station, she was assigned 
to captain Lawrence. About the latter end of the month, 
the British frigate Shannon, commanded by captain Broke, 
appeared off Boston Harbour, prepared for a desperate ren- 
counter; and sent a formal challenge to captain Lawrence: 
which, unfortimately, was not received. He was, at this 
time, absent from the port. On arriving, he was informed, 
that a British frigate was lying off the harbour; apparently 
inviting a combat with an American. He was pleased with 
the occasion ; as he burned with impatience again to meet 
the enemy. But his spirit was more commendable than 
his prudence. He did not sufficiently inquire into the rela- 
tive condition of the vessels. The greater part of the 
Chesapeake's crew had !>een recently discharged ; others 
had been enlisted, and several of the officers were sick. 
Under these disadvantages, he sailed out on the first of 
June, determined to risk a battle. When he came within 
sight of the Shannon, he addressed his crew ; but found 
that they listened with no enthusiasm : som^e heard him with 
sullen coldness ; others, with murmurs and dissatisfaction. 
They alleged, as a reason of complaint, the non-payment of 



THE UNITED STATES. 265 

Uieir prize money. For this, he immediately gave them 
nckets, and thought that they were reconciled : but he was 
mistaken ; they were, at this moment, ahuost in a state of 
mutiny. At length, the Chesapeake closed with the enemy, 
and gave her a broadside ; which was returned with equal 
destruction : but the Chesapeake was more unfortunate in 
the loss of officers. A second and a third broadside were 
exchanged; when the same misfortune continued. A hand 
grenade, thrown from the Shannon, exploded in the arm- 
chest of the Chesapeake, with disastrous effect. Captain 
Broke, with great alertness, seized the moment of distress, 
and boarded the American. A scene of horrid carna^^c 
ensued. Captain Lawrence had been mortally wounded 
early in the action, and carried below ; exclaiming as he 
left the deck, " Don't give up the sJiip ;" every officer, 
qualified for command, was either killed or severely wound- 
ed, and, of the crew, one-third were disabled. In twelve 
minutes from the commencement of the action, the ship 
was overcome, and her colours hauled down. Of the ene- 
my, twenty-three were killed and fifty-six wounded. On 
board the Chesapeake, about eighty men were killed and 
as many wounded ; the greater portion of which loss was 
suffered after the enemy had gained the deck. 

The body of captain Lawrence, together with that of 
lieutenant Ludlow, who, also, had been mortally wounded 
in the action, was interred by the enemy at Halifax, with 
every honour, — civil, naval, and military. A passport being 
obtained from commodore Hardy, they were afterwards 
brought to the United States, by Mr. Crowninshield of Sa- 
lem, in his own barge, manned by twelve masters of vessels. 

Seldom did any victory create in England, amongst the 
adherents of the government, a more pleasing sensation, 
than the capture of the Chesapeake. Not even the bril- 
liant achievements of Wellington in Spain, nor of Nelson, 
on the ocean, had called forth more lively expressions of 
satisfaction ; and, in accordance with this feeling, the prince 
regent conferred upon the victor, who had undoubtedly 
evinced the utmost contempt of danger, the honour of 
knighthood. 

On the 4th of August, another American vessel was cap- 
tured by the British. A sloop of war, the Argus, had the 
misfortune to be vanquished. After conveying Mr. Craw- 
ford, the United Slates' minister, to France, the Argus 
proceeded early in June to cruise in the English channel ; 
where, she continued for two months, committing extensive 



266 HISTORY OF 

havoc amongst the enemy's shippmg; and causing so much 
uneasmess, that the British merchants were unable to pro- 
cure insurance on their vessels, navigating in that quarter, 
under three times the customary premium. Several ships 
of war were ordered out in search of this daring and des- 
tructive foe; one of which at length discerned her, amidst 
the flame of a brig which she had set on fire. This was the 
Pelican ; a vessel of her own class, but said to be two guns 
superior to her in force. An action commenced, at the 
distance of musket shot ; the Pelican being to windward. 
At the first broadside, captain Allen of the Argus fell, se- 
verely wounded ; and lieutenant Watson, also, on whom 
the command devolved, after a brave and skilful perform- 
ance of his duty for an hour and a half, was rendered unfit 
for service. In five minutes more, the Argus was so great- 
ly damaged in her rigging, that she could no longer be 
manoeuvred; and, after sustaining a tremendous raking fire 
for half an hour, she surrendered. 

Captain Allen, who was justly a favourite of his country, 
with midshipmen Delphy and Edwards, died in England ; 
where they were buried, with all the professional tributes 
of respect. 

America was soon afterwards consoled for the loss of the 
Argus. Victory again favoured the republic. In the follow- 
ing month, the brig Enterprise, lieutenant Burroughs, when 
a few days out of Portland, captured the Boxer; a vessel 
rather superior in eff'ective force. The Enterprise had only 
one killed and thirteen wounded ; but that one was the la- 
mented Burroughs. The British loss was more consider- 
able ; and amongst their slain, also, was their commander, 
captain Blythe : who was buried by the side of his antago- 
nist, in Portland. 

Meanwhile, extensive preparations were making on the 
land. In -the west, the campaign opened with an affair, 
which, though of small importance, as affecting the chief 
object of the war, was, nevertheless, conspicuous for its 
brilliancy. This, was the remarkable defence of Fort San- 
dusky, by major Croghan ; a youth of only twenty-one years 
of age. When commanding at another post, Croghan, hav- 
ing received information that the enemy intended to invest 
the fort of Lower Sandusky, had marched hither, with 
some additional men, and been occupied, with great assidu- 
ity, in placing it in the best posture of defence. But the 
only addition that he was enabled to complete, was a ditch 
around the stockade of pickets ; a species of fortification 



THE UNITED STATES. 267 

which encloses these hastily constructed forts, but affords 
small protection against artillery. One six pounder was his 
entire ordnance : a hundred-and-sixty men, regulars, and 
Pittsburgh and Petersburgh volunteers, the total number of 
his garrison. There seemed no likelihood of his defending 
the place. General Harrison, conceiving it impossible to 
hold it, ordered him, on the approach of the enemy, to de- 
stroy the works, and retire. But this, the heroic Croghan, 
taking the responsibility on himself, determined to disobey. 

On the 1st of August, general Proctor appeared, with 
about five-hundred regulars and seven-hundred Indians, 
together with some gun-boats ; when, after making the 
most prudent arrangements to cut off the garrison's re- 
treat, he demanded a surrender. But the major refused to 
obey the summons. Finding that his companions would 
support him to the last, he retained, in presence of the 
enemy, the same courage as when expecting their arrival, 
and returned the answer of a soldier. He withstood, un- 
daunted, the whole fury of their cannon, directed against a 
single point of his defence ; strengthening it with bags of 
flour and sand: concealed his six pounder loaded with slugs 
and grape, in the bastion that covered the angle through 
which the assailants meant to enter ; and, reserving his 
fire, until several hundred of their number had reached the 
ditch, commenced, with an effect, so destructive, that near- 
ly the whole were either killed or wounded. The resolu- 
tion of the assailants, seemed equal to the calm gallantry 
of the defenders. The assault was repeated, with bravery 
augmented by resistance. But those who escaped destruc- 
tion from the cannon, were met by a shower of bullets from 
the small-arms, the remainder sought shelter in the woods, 
and, the next morning, disappeared. 

This exploit called forth the admiration of every party 
in the United States. The commander, and his com- 
panions, captain Hunter, lieutenants Johnson, Bayley, An- 
thony, and Meeks; ensigns Ship and Duncan; of the regu- 
lar army ; as well as all the other officers and volunteers ; 
were highly complimented by the general, and received the 
still more conspicuous approbation of congress. Croghan 
was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel ; and, to 
render his happiness complete, was presented with a sword 
by the ladies of Chilicothe. 

The utmost exertions had been making to gain the as- 
cendency on lake Erie. The completion of the naval force 
in this quarter ; a means so essential to check the Britisll 



^p8 HISTORY OF 

progress in the west; was intrusted to commodore Perry: 
an officer, already mentioned in our history, who joined the 
steadiness of age with the ardour and enterprise of youth. 
He was then in his twenty-eighth year. His fleet consist- 
ed of two vessels, each of twenty guns ; two of four, one of 
three, one of two, and three of one gun each: in all, nine 
vessels, carrying fifty-six guns. The British squadron, 
which was commanded by captain Barclay, comprised one 
vessel of twenty-one guns, one of seventeen, one of fifteen, 
another of ten, and two of three, guns each ; in the whole, 
six vessels, mounting sixty-nine guns. On the morning of 
the 10th of September, the enemy appeared off Put-in-Bay, 
■\yhere commodore Perry was at anchor, bearing down up- 
on the latter with a fair wind. The American squadron 
soon got under way : the engagement having commenced 
with the largest vessel in advance, became general along 
the line. The conflict was tremendous. The British fought 
with a degree of bravery worthy of their ancient fame ; the 
Americans, with resolution becoming the defenders of their 
country. The flag-ship of commodore Perry suffered dread- 
fully in the loss of men ; and was, every moment, on the 
point of sinking. He descended into a boat, proceeded, 
amidst the hottest of the fire, to another vessel, at the same 
time^ waving his sword on high, to invigorate his men. 
Three hours, had the battle held the combatants in awful 
suspense, before the scale of victory was turned. At length, 
the laurel crown was assigned to Perry ; the triumph was 
complete ; — not a single vessel of the enemy escaped. 

The Americans were now masters of the lake ; but they 
still felt the effects of Hull's surrender. Part of their terri- 
tory was yet in possession of the British. The next move- 
ments of general Harrison were against the captured for- 
tress of Detroit, and the Canadian fort at Maiden. Placing, 
at the former, a strong guard under colonel M' Arthur, on 
the 27th of September, he embarked, with his main body, 
consisting of several thousand regulars, militia, and volun- 
teers from Ohio and Kentucky ; and, passing over lake 
Erie, landed about three miles below Amherstsburgh. The 
British general. Proctor, had, in the meantime, evacuated 
Detroit, and destroyed the fort and public stores of Mai- 
den ; and, joined by Tecumseh's Indians, retreated across 
the Thames. General Harrison determined on pursuing. 
On the 2nd of October, he marched with thirty-five-hun- 
dred of his most active troops, consisting of a few regu- 
lars, colonel Ball's dragoons, colonel Johnson's regiment, 



THE UNITED STATES. 269 

with some of governor Shelby's volunteers ; and, after 
skirmishing with the Indians, capturing a guard and a 
large quantity of arms and ammunition, reached the place 
where the enemy had, the night before, encamped. They 
were drawn up across a narrow strip of land ; hemmed in, 
on one side, by a swamp, and, on the other, by the Thames : 
their right consisting of Indians, under Tecumseh ; posted 
in a thick wood, in the vicinity of a morass. General Har- 
rison immediately prepared for battle. His manner of at- 
tack was judicious. Knowing the dexterity of back-woods- 
men in riding through a forest, and the ease with which 
they carry rifles in that situation, he determined to sur- 
prise the regulars, by charging them with colonel John- 
son's mounted regiment ; who were, accordingly, drawn 
up in front. The horses, at first, recoiled from the enemy's 
fire ; but, soon afterwards, again getting in motion, at full 
speed, with irresistible impetuosity, broke through the op- 
posing column. In a moment, the contest was over, in the 
foremost ranks. The Americans instantly forming in their 
rear, were preparing to make another charge ; when, the 
British officers, finding it impossible to form, with suffi- 
cient rapidity, their shattered ranks, immediately surren- 
dered. Much, however, was still to be accomplished. The 
Indians were not yet disturbed. They remained, unshaken, 
at their post. The tremendous voice of Tecumseh was dis- 
tinctly heard, encouraging his warriors, who, though beset 
on every side, fought with more obstinate courage than had, 
at any time, been witnessed in these people. But the gal- 
lantry of Johnson soon deprived them of their spirit. Rush- 
ing towards the spot where the faithful warriors clustered 
around their chief, amidst the well-aimed bullets which 
the conspicuous figure of the brave Kentuckian, from his 
uniform and white horse, attracted as he approached, he 
was discovered by Tecumseh, when covered with wounds, 
and at the moment when his horse was about to sink, from 
the loss of blood. The chief, having discharged his rifle, 
sprang forward with his tomahawk ; but, amazed by the 
appearance of his antagonist, for a moment withheld his 
blow. The interval was fatal. Leveling a pistol at his breast, 
colonel Johnson instantly brought him to the ground ; and 
the Indians, no longer hearing the voice of their leader, 
soon afterwards dispersed. 

The British loss in this engagement was seventy killed 
and wounded, and six-hundred prisoners. The Americans 
lost, in killed and wounded, about fifty j amongst the slain? 
23* 



270 HISTORY OF 

was .colonel Whitely, a soldier of the revolution; who serv- 
ed, on that occasion, as a private. Shelby, the venerable 
governor of Kentucky, bore a distinguished part in the 
honours of the day. Though, in the struggle for inde- 
pendence, particularly on King's Mountain, he had, already, 
entailed a heavy debt of gratitude upon his country, he 
now, at an age approaching seventy, came forward to es- 
tablish what he had aided in acquiring. 

The Indians left a hundred-and-twenty on the field: but 
the fall of Tecumseh was more weakening than the loss of 
half their nation. No longer attempting to renew the war, 
they were received by the Americans as allies. — Tecumseh 
was the most formidable chief that ever raised the toma- 
hawk against the United States. Subtle, brave, eloquent, 
and liberal; of a dignified and commanding aspect; a form, 
at once welj proportioned and majestic ; he was fitted to 
gain the affections of his people, and lead them to the most 
desperate encounters. 

Harrison now allowed the greater part of the volunteers 
to return home ; and, stationing general Cass at Detroit, 
with about a thousand men, proceeded, according to in- 
structions, with the remainder of his force, to join the army 
of the centre, at Buffaloe. 

To make a serious impression on Canada, if not a total 
conquest of the province, was, again, a favourite object 
with the American government. Recent victory had in- 
creased the confidence of the administration, and revived 
"he martial spirit of the people. A larger force, than at 
any former period, was collected along the northern fron- 
tier. At the head of the war office, was placed general 
Armstrong ; a man of acknowledged energy and talents ; 
naturally inclined to military study ; and, by a long resi- 
dence in Europe, skilled in all the modern improvements 
in that arduous department. Dearborne was succeeded by 
general Wilkinson, from the southern district ; an officer 
supposed to possess more extensive military science than 
any other in the United States: and general Wade Hamp- 
ton, from the same quarter, distinguished, as well as Wil- 
kinson, amongst the revolutionary soldiers, was also sum- 
'^moned to aid in the intended enterprise. The troops col- 
lected under the former, on the Niagara frontier, amount- 
ed to eight -thousand regulars ; independent of those short- 
ly expected under Harrison. The latter assembled at Platts- 
burgh ; numbering four-thousand men ; and, making a to- 
tal superior to any mustered since the beginning of the 



THE UNITED STATES. 27 i 

.war. The Americans had the command of the water com- 
munication : Fort George and the neighbouring shores 
were in their possession. General Armstrong himself, with 
more solicitude, however, than prudence, visited the army, 
to deliver instructions for the campaign: and the ablest 
officers that the Union could afford; such as Brown, Scott, 
and Macomb ; Boyd, Porter, and Forsythe ; accompanied 
the expedition. 

Montreal was destined to be the first object of attack. 
The chief place of rendezvous was Grenadier's Island ; half 
way between Sackett's Harbour and Kingston: whence, it 
was appointed that the army should embark, and proceed 
down the St. Lawrence to a convenient place for landing. 
A brilliant rencounter, which occurred on the 21st of No- 
vember, between an American regiment, under colonel 
Ripley, and a superior number of the enemy, at Chrystler's 
field, gave a happy specimen of bravery and skill, and pro- 
mised a glorious consummation of the army's hope: but, a 
letter received by the commander in chief, from general 
Hampton, declaring the impracticability of his co-operating 
in the original design, stopped any farther prosecution of 
the campaign. The army then retired into winter-quarters 
at Frenchtown Mills. 

Opinion was much divided as to the causes of this failure, 
as well as to the party that should bear the blame. The 
dissatisfaction was in proportion to the flattering anticipa- 
tion of success : and even the government was not without 
a share of the universal censure ; for having associated two 
officers, Wilkinson and Hampton, between whom there had 
previously existed a well-known spirit of hostility. 

But the injury suffered by the United States did not end 
merely in disappointment. Failing in the extension of their 
conquests, they were deprived of their former acquisitions 
on the Canadian shore. Fort George was shortly afterwards 
abandoned. Before the middle of December, the force un- 
der general M'Clure, to whom, the charge of that fortress 
had been given, being reduced, by the departure of the 
militia, on the expiration of their term of service, to a num- 
ber insufficient for its defence; it was evacuated and blown 
up. His retreat was preceded by an act which excited 
universal dissatisfaction throughout the United States, and 
caused severe retaliation by the enemy. Misconceiving 
his instructions, he left the handsome village of Newark in 
flames : this provoked the resentment of sir George Prev- 
ost } and, accordingly, Fort Niagara being surprised, owing 



2712 HISTORY OF 

to the negligence of captain Leonard, by a party of British 
soldiers, the garrison, nearly three-hundred in number, 
were, all, except about twenty, put to the sword: and, im- 
mediately the invaders began to lay waste the adjoining 
frontier ; burning Lewistown, Manchester, Youngstown, 
the Indian village of the Tuscaroras, and Buffaloe. 

In the meantime, commodore Chauncey had skirmished 
with the enemy's squadron ; capturing, by unremitting 
vigilance and consummate abilities, several armed vessels, 
and forcing the remainder to keep within their harbour : 
but the inconsiderable breadth of the passage which sepa- 
rates'the frontiers in the neighbourhood of the several forts, 
allowed the British to cross over in their small boats, and 
rendered his naval superiority, in that respect, unavailing. 
. o . ^ The impolicy of carrying on offensive war, for the 
purpose of conquering a British province, was, eve- 
ry day, more apparent. Though the army had improved 
in discipline, and individuals had acquired renown, the 
national aspect was becoming, on the whole, more gloomy. 
Inexperience in commissarial affairs promoted waste and 
disappointment. At one time, the soldiers were furnished 
with exuberance ; at another, they were destitute of suffi- 
cient food. Those comforts which "preserve the health, 
and invigorate the spirits, of an army, were generally want- 
ing ; and, in the snowy regions of the north, the men, thus 
neglected, or made subservient to individual avarice, suf- 
fered more by sickness than the sword. The expenditure 
was, thus, three times larger than the ministerial estimates; 
and the consumption of the regular soldiers, greater than 
could be balanced by recruiting. Militia and volunteers 
could be assembled for national defence: but regulars, 
only, were suitable for offensive war; and these came for- 
ward with reluctance, because the name of enlisted soldier 
was held in disrepute. No expedient, however, was left 
untried, to remove the prejudice, or act on the cupidity, 
of the people. The pay was enlarged, immediate bounty 
offered in money, and future benefit in lands. Several 
millions of acres, v/ere, for this purpose, surveyed in Illi- 
nois, and a large quantity in Missouri; of which, a hun- 
dred-and-sixty were to be given to each private, and a pro- 
portionate allowance to subordinate officers, on the conclu- 
sion of the war. 

In the beginning of the year, a British flag of truce ar- 
rived at Annapolis, with despatches for the American gov- 
ernment ; announcing the expulsion of Napoleon's armies 



THE UNITED STATES. 273 

from Spain, his signal defeat, about the same period, at 
Leipsic, and, that, notwithstanding the rejection of the 
Russian mediation, the prince regent of England was will- 
ing to enter on direct negotiations of peace. The presi- 
dent having frankly acceded to the proposal, it was agreed, 
that commissioners should assemble at Ghent. Henry- 
Clay, speaker of the house of representatives, and Jonathan 
Russel, were appointed, on the part of the United States, 
to proceed to Europe ; and, with John Quincy Adams, (son 
©f the ex-president Adams,) James A. Bayard, and Albert 
Gallatin, diplomatists already there, to commence the 
pleasing business of conciliation. 

Mr. Clay had filled the arduous duties of his office 
with conspicuous dignity and attention. His chair was, at 
his departure, assigned to Langdon Cheves, an eminent 
lawyer of Carolina ; who, by his talents and uniform disin- 
terestedness, gained, in that exalted station, the universal 
esteem of his country. 

After the failure of the campaign against the British 
l^rovinces, the northern army remained in winter quarters, 
without any material occurrence, until the latter end of 
February. General Wilkinson had submitted several plans 
of attack on the different posts in his vicinity: which, how- 
ever, did not meet the concurrence of the secretary oif war; 
who directed, that the army should be withdrawn from its 
position, to Plattsburgh, and that general Brown should 
proceed with two-thousand men to Sackett's Harbour, ac- 
companied by a due proportion of field and battering artil- 
lery. On the 13th of March, general Wilkinson, at the 
head of about four-thousand men, recrossed the Canadian 
lines, for the purpose of attacking La Colle's Mill ; a forti- 
fied stone-house, garrisoned by about two-thousand, under 
major Handcock : but, after a persevering assault, in 
which, he suffered considerable loss, he was obliged to re- 
linquish the design. The unfortunate issue of this affair, 
combined with the failure of the late campaign, having 
brought Wilkinson into disrepute, the administration sus- 
pended him from command, and, in his place, appointed 
general Izard. Wilkinson, however, after a minute inves- 
tigation, was honourably acquitted of every charge. 

Whilst M*Donough was employed in forming a navy on 
lake Champlain, the indefatigable Chauncey was equally 
industrious in keeping pace with the enemy's preparations 
on lake Ontario. It was required, that every nerve should 
be exerted, in this quarter. The British were here build- 



274 HISTORY OF 

ing a ship, of no less magnitude than a hundred-and-twelve 
guns; and, as they had failed in contending with the Amer- 
ican vessels when afloat, they endeavoured, by formidable 
incursions, to destroy them on the stocks, as well as the 
naval stores, intended for their equipment. Their most 
daring attempt was made against Oswego. Here, colonel 
Mitchell commanded; and, though, after a heavy bombard- 
ment, by a superior number of the enemy, under general 
Drummond, he was compelled to evacuate the fort, yet, 
by his provident removal of the stores, and obstinate resist- 
ance, they gained only a barren victory, with considerable 
loss of men. Their killed and wounded were at least two- 
hundred. The Americans were not tedious in following 
their example. On the 29th of May, a party, under major 
Apling and captain Woolsey, having entered Sandy Creek, 
carried off a hundred-and-thirty seamen, together with all 
the boats and cutters in the harbour; an enterprise severe- 
ly felt by the British squadron; as they lost thereby, many 
of their ablest officers, and gave commodore Chauncey, 
once more, the command of lake Ontario. 

The death of colonel Forsythe, one of the most distin- 
guished officers in the whole army, who, at this period, 
was killed in a skirmish with the enemy, was deeply la- 
mented. But an occurrence of a different kind, about the 
same time, caused a much more serious impression on the 
public mind. An American officer, colonel Campbell, 
having crossed lake Erie with five-hundred men, and land- 
ed at Dover, a small Canadian village, destroyed the mills, 
together with the greater part of the private dwellings ; a 
proceeding that underwent the investigation of a military 
court : by which, it was determined, that, although the 
destruction of the mills might be justified, by the usages of 
war, on account of their having furnished the British troops 
with necessary supplies, the damage inflicted on the dwell- 
ings could not pass without disapprobation. 

The eastern states did not escape, entirely, from the evils 
attending this extensive warfare. The aversion to hostili- 
ties entertained by the majority in New England, nor the 
partiality which it was supposed they felt for the British, 
in comparison with the French government, v/as not suffi- 
cient to protect their coasts, throughout the war, from the 
ravages of the English navy. Saybrook and Brockway's 
Ferry, Wareham and Scituate, had, in the beginning of 
April, to lament the entire destruction of their shipping. 
A part of the district of Maine, lying between Penobscot 



THE UNITED STATES. 2.76 

viver and Passamaquoddy, as well as all the islands on the 
eastern side of the bay, were, soon afterwards, completely 
overrun by the invaders. They declared this section to be 
a portion of the British empire, and induced two-thirds of 
the people to swear allegiance to the crown of England. 
Very different, however, was their reception at Stonington. 
Its destruction was prevented by the gallantry of its inhab- 
itants ; and victory, considered by the enemy as certain, 
thus changed, into the mortification of defeat. 

The American navy continued to be an interesting sub- 
ject of attention. Commodore Porter, although constrain- 
ed to yield the Essex at Valparaiso, suffered no loss of 
reputation. His services, before entering the Pacific Ocean, 
and his glorious cruise in that distant quarter, where twelve 
armed ships, carrying above a hundred guns, had been 
taken by him from the enemy, could not be erased by his 
yielding to a superior squadron, whilst apparently protect- 
ed by the usages of a neutral port. Nor is commodore 
Decatur the less entitled to national esteem, though, in the 
following year, the chance of war placed him in contact 
with another squadron, which, anxious to revive the droop- 
ing laurels of the British flag, had roused his indignation 
by transferring the fruit of their combined manoeuvres to 
a single frigate. The confidence in these distinguished 
officers underwent not the smallest diminution: the Amer- 
ican navy maintained, in every action, the same superiority 
by which its glory was acquired. The sloop of war. Pea- 
cock, by the capture of the brig Epervier, impressed the 
name of Warrington on the public mind ; and a vessel of 
the former class, the Wasp, (lately built,) which compelled 
the surrender, in different actions, of the Reindeer and 
Avon brigs, caused yet stronger feelings of respect for the 
memory of Blakely. His memory is all that his fellow- 
citizens can now contemplate. The Atlanta, a vessel of 
eighteen guns, taken off Madeira, was the last trophy pre- 
sented by that officer. The W^asp never returned to the 
United States : no information of her fate has been receiv- 
ed, and all hopes of her arrival have, long since, diappear- 
ed. This was a severe affliction. But, if a continuation of 
success could, in any manner, diminish the regret for the 
loss of so many valuable lives, the United States, in the 
ensuing spring, received no small degree of consolation. 
The Hornet sloop of war, commanded by captain Biddle, 
captured the English national brig. Penguin ; and the Con- 
stitution, under captain Stewart, overcame the united forces 



276 HISTORY OF 

of the Cyane and the Levant; the latter carrying eighteen 
guns; the former, thirty -four. 

On the northern frontier, the army not only retained its 
accustomed spirit, but emulated the high character of the 
navy, by its improvement in discipline. The battle of 
Chippeway, in which, on the 4th of July, the British com- 
mander, Riall, retreated before general Brown, was an 
achievement happily gained on the anniversary of Ameri- 
can independence; and Niagara soon afterwards Avitnessed, 
that, although general Drummond, the superior of the 
vanquished leader, had determined to retrieve the misfor- 
tune of his arms, the victorious officer was able to' heighten 
the brilliant character of himself and his companions, by a 
second conquest. Chippeway is remarkable in the annals 
of America: but the battle of Niagara may justly be placed 
in the foremost rank of all the anterior engagements of the 
war. The obstinacy displayed by the British soldiers, en- 
hanced the merit of their enemy, but did not prevent gen- 
eral Riall, nor even the aid-de-camp of general Drummond, 
from gracing the triumph of the victors. — In these actions, 
generals Scott, Ripley, and Porter, conducted their several 
divisions in the brave and able manner insured by their 
previous conduct : colonel Miller, with majors Hindman 
and Jessup, Leavenworth and M'Neil, though of inferior 
stations, were not less energetic in their duty; and captain 
Towson evinced the same precision in the management of 
his artillery, that, since the commencement of the contest, 
had rendered his name a familiar topic of applause. — A 
party of the enemy, who had crossed the Niagara with the 
design of recapturing general Riall, were repulsed by 
the firmness of major Morgan ; and a more formidable 
attack on Fort Erie, (retaken by the Americans,) in which 
the whole energies of the British officers were exerted, 
was repelled by the good conduct of the army under the 
prudent superintendence of general Gaines. 

But these conspicuous proofs of advancement in military 
knowledge, did not enable the Americans to enlarge the 
boundaries of their conquests, nor even to retain a footing 
on the Canadian side. The weather growing cold, and the 
season of inaction fast approaching, it was thought expe- 
dient to transport the whole army into the United States ; 
thus, terminating the third invasion of that British prov- 
ince. 

Early in June, intelligence having arrived of the com- 
plete success of the allied powers in Europe, and the con- 



THE UNITED STATES. 27^ 

sequent dethronement of Napoleon, most serious appre- 
licnsions were entertained from the exertions of Great Brit- 
ain, now directed against a single point. It was naturally 
supposed, that some place in the southern portion of the 
Union, would feel the earliest effects of her concentrated 
force. This conjecture was soon realized. Twenty-one sail 
of the line, under admiral Cochrane, arrived in the Chesa- 
peake, on the 1 6th of August. Another fleet from Bermuda, 
followed, under the command of admiral Malcolm. Accom- 
panying these, were several thousand land troops, the flow- 
er of lord Wellington's army, under one of his most active 
officers, general Ross. Despatching to the Potomac two 
frigates, together with some rocket and bomb vessels, in 
charge of captain Gordon, for the purpose of demolishing 
Fort Washington ; and a strong division of his fleet, with 
sir Peter Parker, to threaten Baltimore; admiral Cochrane 
sailed with the main body up the Patuxent. The troops 
Avere landed at Benedict, and, on the 21st of August, 
marched to Nottingham. Thence, they pursued their 
route to Upper Marlborough; where, they arrived at two 
o'clock in the afternoon of the following day. To this 
place, eighteen miles from Washington, commodore Bar- 
ney, after a long continuance of gallant service in these 
waters, having retreated, some time before, he now, on the 
approach of his formidable antagonist, retired, to join the 
American army in his rear; leaving a party of marines : 
who, agreeably with his orders, accomplished the de:;truc- 
tion of his flotilla. 

General Ross had debarked thirty-five-hundred men. 
The army destined to oppose him, was confided to general 
Winder; who had been recently exchanged. It amount- 
ed to fifteen-thousand ; of which number, about one-half 
were actually assembled, or approaching. Five-hundred 
of these were infantry of the line; a hundred-and-fifty, reg- 
ular dragoons: six-hundred were seamen and marines; 
and the remainder, militia, of the states of Virginia, Mary- 
land, and the District of Columbia. 

W^hilst the enemy were advancing, general Winder was 
collecting his forces at the Wood Yard, fourteen miles 
from Washington; falling back, when he had reached Up- 
per Marlborough, to a place called the Old Fields: where, 
he encamped. At noon, on the ensuing day, he detached 
colonel Scott of the United States' thirty-sixth regiment, 
major Peter of the Georgetown artillery, and captains Da- 
vidson and Stull, witli their several corps, to reconnoitre 
24 



278 HISTORY OF 

the enemy, and impede them on their march. About six 
miles from the American camp, they perceived the head 
of the British cokmm, moving directly for the capital. A 
slight skirmish ensued, and the party retvirned to the main 
body. The enemy advanced, and, in the evening, halted 
within three miles of general Winder. The general again 
changed his position. To avoid a battle in the night, which 
would deprive him of his great superiority in cannon, (hav- 
ing above twenty pieces, and the British no more than 
three,) he marched, about sun-set, into Washington, and 
encamped near the bridge above the navy-yard. The ene- 
my were seen from Bladensburg, about noon, on the 24th. 
General Stansbury had arrived there on the 22nd, with 
thirteen-hundred men from Baltimore; followed by colonel 
Sterrett with three-hundred artillery, commanded by cap- 
tains Myers and Magruder, and a light battalion of rifle- 
men, under major Pinkney : the whole, nearly exhausted, 
from the heat of the weather, and an insufficient supply of 
provisions ; during a tantalizing march ; in Avhich, at one 
time, they were obliged to halt for orders, and at another, 
urged on with the greatest possible rapidity. General 
Stansbury took a position on the west side of the eastern 
branch of the Potomac ; being on the north of the turn- 
pike road which leads through Bladensburg to Washing- 
ton. Between his infantry and the bridge, he stationed his 
artillery and riflemen ; with which advanced party, the ac- 
tion now commenced. In the meantime, general Winder 
had arrived, and sanctioned the arrangement : then, riding 
back about half a mile from the bridge, he met his mam 
body approaching, under general Smith of the Columbia 
militia. It was now too late, to make such a disposition of 
the whole, as might have been the most advantageous. 
Without halting more than twenty minutes after coming 
in full view of the American front line, the enemy moved 
in column at a quick pace, through Bladensburg, to the 
bridge. Their van, led by colonel Thornton, were, for a 
moment, checked ; but, encouraged by their officers, they 
proceeded firmly to the charge, and forced their passage. 
General Ross, accompanied by admiral Cockburn, crossed 
with the main body ; and, meeting no impediment, except 
from major Peter's artillery, continued steadily along the 
road. The Baltimore artillerists and riflemen, who formed 
the front line, broke, and retreated ; when, pressing on 
Stansbury's infantry, who formed the second, they caused 
them to participate in the confusion, and, with the former, 



THE UNITED STATES. ' 275! 

to abandon the scene of action. Peter's guns continued to 
assail the invaders with a destructive fire: but they pushed 
forward undismayed. Smith's brigade was now on the 
point of eng-aging, when general Winder ordered a retreat. 
This was made in as correct a manner as the ground would 
permit. After falling back a few hundred yards, it was 
perfectly formed, and ready to oppose the enemy ; but 
was again directed to retire. Immediately before this, 
commodore Barney, with his flotilla men, arrived ; also 
captain Miller, with the marines. The commodore opened 
a most destructive fire upon their front ; whilst Miller en- 
filaded their left fiank. The first discharge from one of 
Barney's eighteen pounders, made extensive havoc, and 
literally cut an avenue through their column. They delib- 
erated, for a moment, a.nd then tried to deploy upon Mil- 
ler's division. But they could not accomplish their design. 
They received so copious a discharge from his twelve 
pounders, doubly loaded with canister shot, and from his 
musketry, at the same time, that their leading platoons 
were thrown into confusion, and fell back upon the advanc- 
ing column. At this moment, the enemy might be regard- 
ed as defeated. They w^ould, probably, have surrendered, 
had the commodore's left been covered by a few resolute 
infantry ; or, by as many marines as were on the right, com- 
manded by such an ofincer as himself, or by another Miller. 
But this protection not being afforded, the opportunity was 
lost: general Ross succeeded in manoeuvres, which, in that 
case, he would not even have attempted. His left pushed 
forward up the hill, in front of Beall's Maryland militia; 
who fled, without making the least resistance; the marines 
were charged in front, and simultaneously, on their flanks, 
by a division three times theif number. Their commander 
Mas wounded, and, resigning them to captain Sevier, or- 
dered them to retire. Barney's corps continued to make 
dreadful havoc, until nearly surrounded, and the British 
had even seized on their pieces : but, unable to effect any 
thing more, in tiiat place, they joined the marines in their 
retreat. Tl\e commodore now lay bleeding on the ground, 
and, with captain Miller, fell into the hands of the enemy; 
both receiving from them, in consideration of their distin- 
guished gallantry, every encomium and attention. 
. The marines and flotilla corps had expected to find, with- 
in a short distance, the army rallied and posted for a sec- 
ond contest. But, by general Winder's order, they had 
left the field. Mr. Madison, general Armstrong, colonel 



280 HISTORY OF 

Monroe, and the other chief officers of the government, 
were present on the commencement of the battle; but, in 
its progress they judged it prudent to retire. They inti- 
mated to general Winder the possibility of still defending 
the city; to which suggestion, he replied, that his army 
"vvas dispersed, and broken down by fatigue. Thus, the fate 
of Washington was decided. General Ross, with a thous- 
and men, slowly approached the city ; where he arrived at 
eight o'clock in the evening; his horse behig shot under 
him, by some imprudent person who fired from a window. 
The rear came up afterv/ards, and encamped within sight 
of the capitol. The invaders then proceeded to burn this 
fine building ; containing the senate-chamber and repre- 
sentative-hall, supreme court-room, congressional library, 
and public records. The treasury, war, and navy offices, 
shared in the conflagration. Every public building, except 
the general post-office, containirig the models of ingenious 
patented inventions in the arts, v/as subjected to the same 
Vandalic torch; in retaliation, it was declared, for the burn- 
ing of York and other places, in Canada. Immense dam- 
age was sustained, also, from the burning of the stores at 
the navy-yard, by American orders; to prevent their falling 
into the hands of the enemy. 

General Ross remained in Washington until eight o'clock 
on the evening of the 25th. He then began his return, over 
the same road by which he had advanced. His army re- 
tired in great disorder. It did not reach I31adensburg until 
the afternoon of the 26th, distant only live miles; nor Ben- 
edict until the evening of the 27th. It was in detachments ; 
marched by different routes; was separated by hitcrvals of 
many miles, and preceded by a drijve of sixty or seventy- 
head of cattle. No impediment, however, except by the 
country-people, was offered to this straggling enemy : 
though, it can hardly be doubted, that half the Ameri- 
can troops, overcome by them at Bladcnsburg, might, 
if resolutely commanded, have retrieved their lost honour, 
in a vigorous pursuit. Several officers of rank, and about 
a hundrcd-and-iifty non-commissioned officers and privates 
of the British army, whose wounds would not permit their 
removal, were left behind. Their loss, altogether, was 
very great. Four-hundred were killed and wounded, be- 
sides five-hundred more who were made prisoners, or de- 
serted. This indicated, not so much a victory, as a defeat. 
The report from the vanquished army was the reverse : 
twelve killed, and about thirty wounded. It is only just^ 



THE UNITED STATES. 281 

however, to mention, that a court of inquiry^ held in Bal- 
timore, investigated the conduct of general Winder, and 
exonerated him from the charges which had been made, of 
insufficient alacrity. 

Captain Gordon was, in the meantime, ascending the 
Potomac. On the 27th of August, two days after the 
evacuation of the capital by general Ross, he approached 
Fort Washington, situated on the east side of the river, 
about six miles below Alexandria: when, having com- 
menced a distant fire, the officer intrusted with its defence, 
blew it up, in accordance with his instructions; and, with- 
out returning a single shot, retreated with his garrison. 
The consequence of this proceeding was the capture of the 
town. One hour, only, was allowed the corporation, to re- 
ply to the terms dictated by the English squadron. All 
public and private stores were, accordingly, surrendered: 
the vessels in the harbour, fully equipped by their respec- 
tive owners; those sunk for its security, raised, and placed 
in sailing order ; were delivered ; and the merchandise, of 
every description, including that removed since the 19th 
of the month, embarked, by the inhabitants, on board the 
surrendered ships. Sixteen -thousand barrels of flour, one- 
thousand hogsheads of tobacco, besides a large amount of 
wine, sugar, and cotton, were thus lost to Alexandria. 

The same good fortune did not attend captain Parker. 
Having landed with two-hundred-and-fifty marines, in the 
neighbourhood of Moor's Fields, on the eastern shore of 
Maryland, he was opposed by colonel Reid with a hundred- 
and-seventy militia, supported by two pieces of artillery : 
by whom, after an obstinate contest, which lasted for an 
hour, he was repulsed: himself being mortally wounded, 
and thirteen of his party left dead upon the field. 

There was only one opinion respecting the next grand ob- 
ject of attack. All anxiously awaited the fate of Baltimore. 
The unvaried hostile sentiments evinced towards the Brit- 
ish government, by its inhabitants; the arrangements of 
the invading enemy ; their recent victory at Bladen sburg, 
and easy acquisition of the capital ; induced most solicit- 
ous endeavours for its defence. Nor were the citizens of 
Baltimore, alone, affected by its dangerous situation. Phi- 
ladelphia was moved by scarcely less fearful anticipation ; 
and New York, still farther distant from the interesting 
scene, was equally industrious in guarding against an as- 
sault by land. 

Large bodies of militia, from Pennsylvania and Virginia, 
24* 



2^8-2 HISTORY OF 

and the interior of Maryland, assembled in Baltimore'. 
Commodore Rodgers, with his marines, took charge of 
the principal batteries on the high ground, situated on the 
eastern side of the town ; the only point through which it 
was assailable by land: where, a ditch was hastily thrown 
up, and guarded by at least ten-thousand men. One divi- 
sion of this force was confided to general Winder; another, 
to general Strieker ; and the whole were under the com- 
mand of general Samuel Smith ; an officer distinguished 
in the revolutionary war, by his defence of Fort Mifflin. 
The approach to the city, by water, was defended by Fort 
M'Henry, (two miles from Baltimore,) garrisoned by one- 
thousand men, under major Armistead; by large vessels 
sunk in the opposite channel; besides two temporary works, 
in the rear, superintended by lieutenants Newcomb and 
Webster. 

On the 11th of September, admiral Cochrane appeared 
at the mouth of the Patapsco, with a fleet, of ships of war 
and transports, amounting to fifty cail. The next morning 
at seven o'clock, general Ross, having landed five-thousand 
troops near North Point, about eight miles from the city, 
immediately marched forward. General Strieker, who had 
been sent out to impede his progress, with a brigade of 
three-thousand, commenced a vigorous series of skirmish- 
ing. The firing had not continued long before the British 
general was killed. The command devolved on colonel 
Brooke ; who pushed towards the city, whilst the Ameri- 
cans gradually retired, until the evening ; when, they rest- 
ed within half a mile of their intrenchments. The enemy 
suffered heavily. Their loss in killed and wounded, was at 
least three-hundred. The Arnerican loss was comparative- 
ly small: about a hundred-and-sixty. On the follo^^ing 
morning, the British were seen at a distance of only two 
miles in front of the lines ; and, shortly afterwards, they 
moved towards the right, as if desirous of entering by the 
York and Harlford roads: in which intention, having been 
frustrated by skilful manoeuvres, they advanced within one 
mile, apparently with a design of assaulting the works, in 
front. 

Meanwhile, Fort M'Henry was furiously assailed. At 
sun-rise, the British admiral, having brought sixteen ships 
within two miles and a half of this important defence, be- 
gan the assault with five bomb vessels, still farther in ad- 
vance. At this time, the fort remained entirely silent. The 
enemy were not within the range of the American guns. 



THE UNITED STATES. 283 

But, when they moved yet nearer, major Armistead opened 
a tremendous fire, which compelled them to resume their 
former position. When it became dark, they attempted 
to land some troops, by ascending the river towards Spring 
Garden: but, thoui^h they had passed the outer works, un- 
noticed, they were discovered by the smaller forts in the 
rear, and obliged to withdraw ; after losing one of their 
barges, with all that were on board. 

When colonel Brooke's movements showed a design of 
forcing the intrenchments, general Smith prudently station- 
ed Winder and Strieker on the left, to assail the enemy on 
their right, and on their rear, if they seriously attempted 
the assault. This, perhaps, changed the intention of the 
British land troops: the admirable defence made by Fort 
M'Henry caused them to await the issue of the bombard- 
ment, and, at the same time, determined the marine to de- 
cline the contest. The capture of Baltimore was abandon- 
ed. In the course of the night, Admiral Cochrane held a 
conference with colonel Brooke, the land forces retreated 
towards their boats, and, the next morning, returned on 
board their ships. 

High praise is due to the defenders of Baltimore, par- 
ticularly to those stationed at the fort A bombardment,, 
that, during twenty-five hours, had expended fifteen-hun- 
dred shells, a large portion of which burst over their heads, 
and a great number within the works, scattering fragments 
in every direction, and seriously damaging several of the 
buildings, demanded considerable firmness ; though the 
personal injury, the killed being only four, and the wound- 
ed twenty, was less than might have been imagined from 
its magnitude.* 

But it required the brilliant victory on lake Champlain, 
and the equally splendid defence of Flattsburg, to remove 
the unfavourable impression made on the negotiations in 
Europe, by the unfortunate surrender of the capital. Com- 
modore M'Donough, by the defeat of the British squadron 
under captain Downie ; emd general Macomb, by the re- 
pulse of the army under sir George Prevost; (two achieve- 
ments which occurred simultaneously, and at the same 
place, on the llih of September;) have gained imperish- 
able honour to themselves and their brave companions. 

• Admiral Cochrane Is an uncle of the gallant naval officer and 
distiiig'uis'htd patrid, lord Cochiane; and a brother of the earl of 
Dundonald, a scientific nobleman of Scotland. 



284 HISTORY OF 

The American squadron on lake Champlain, consisted of 
fourteen vessels, carrying eighty-six guns and eight-hun- 
dred-and-twenty-six men ; the British of seventeen vessels 
with ninety-five guns and one-thousand-and-fifty men. Of 
these, one frigate, one brig, and two sloops, were captured, 
some were sunk and others escaped; eighty-four men were 
killed, one-hundred-and-ten wounded, and eight-hundred- 
and-fifty-six made prisoners. — General Prevost,with twelve- 
thousand men, endeavoured to cross the river Saranac in 
three several places, and storm the forts at Plattsburgh, 
defended by an inconsiderable force, principally militia ; 
but was repulsed in every attempt. The British army lost 
in killed and wounded, and by desertion, above two-thous- 
and ; the American, a hundred-and-twenty-one. 

It might rationally have been supposed, that the war 
would, before this period, have ceased. Sufficient evidence 
had been offered to the enemy, that no serious impression 
could be made on the United States. The pacification of 
Europe had withdraw^n the immediate causes of dispute, 
and the American commissioners had been directed to al- 
low the subject of impressment to remain unsettled. But 
the English government were not equally desirous of peace. 
They proposed, as an essential requisite of this great bless- 
ing, a most insulting relinquishment ; — no less than a sur- 
render of a large portion of territory, and the total aban- 
donment of the coast along the lakes. 

Early in September, it became known, that the enemy 
were preparing to make a formidable invasion of Louisiana. 
Governor Claiborne ordered the two divisions of the militia 
of that state ; the first, under general Villere, and the se- 
cond, under general Thomas; to hold themselves in readi- 
ness to march at a moment's warning: and sent forth an 
animating address, calling on the inhabitants to rise, for 
the defence of their families and homes. But the majority 
of the planters, there, at least of French extraction, had 
felt little interest in the war : the militia, therefore, were 
scarcely organized, instead of being disciplined and armed. 
Nothing short of actual invasion could rouse them, in the 
country. In the city, the case was different. Every man, 
that could carry arms, had, in New Orleans, become a sol- 
dier. The free people of colour, too, a numerous class, 
were allowed the privilege of forming volunteer compa- 
nies, and joining their white brethren in the momentous 
duty of protection. 

But the chief safety of the inhabitants was in the nature 



THE UNITED STATES. 285 

of their country. It was exceedingly difficult of access, by 
sea. In front, was a shallow coast ; and the principal en- 
trance, a river ; which, after crossing the bar, is narrow, 
deep, and rapid, and of a course so winding, as to render 
it easily susceptible of being fortified. On the west, are 
impassable swamps ; and, on the east, the low, marshy 
coast, can be approached only through a shallow lake. 
Gun-boats, the most appropriate means of annoyance, had, 
notwithstanding, been neglected. As regarded men, arms, 
and military Avorks, Louisiana was in a most defenceless 
situation: the legislature had been convened; but, instead 
of actively providing for the public safety, its time was 
wasted in discussion. 

When danger suddenly approaches, the energetic mind 
of an individual may be of greater value than the combined 
Avisdom of a senate. The formalities of law are ill suited 
to expel an enemy, when at our very doors. Flappily for 
NcAV Orleans, the commander of the district, general Jack- 
son, arrived there, on the 2nd of December, from Mobile ; 
to which place, he had returned, after performing an im- 
portant military service at Pensacola, and, at an earlier pe- 
riod of the Avar, rendering Jiimself conspicuous, by the al- 
most total annihilation of thS Creek Indians. His presence 
Avas instantly felt, in the confidence Avhich it inspired, and 
in the unanimity Avith which the people seconded his prompt 
arrangements. He visited, according to his invariable cus- 
tom, every point Avhere it might be necessary to erect 
Avorks to oppose the enemy. He directed that all the in- 
lets from the Attakappas to the Manchack, should be ob- 
structed ; that the banks of the Mississippi should be for- 
tified, and a battery erected on the Chef Monteur. About 
a thousand regulars Avere stationed in the city ; Avhich 
troops, together Avith the Tennessee militia, under generals 
Coifee and Carroll, Avere distributed at the most vulnerable 
points. 

Three days had not elapsed, after the arrival of general 
Jackson, Avhen intelligence Avas received, that the British 
fleet, consisting of at least sixty sail, Avas off the coast, to 
the east of the Mississippi. Commodore Patterson imme- 
diately despatched some gun-boats to Avatch their motions; 
but, on the 14th, this little squadron Avas captured by a su- 
perior force ; not, hoAvever, without making a spirited re- 
sistance. This misfortune enabled the enemy to choose 
their place of landing, and, at the same time, prevented 
the Americans from gaining information. But the general 



286 HISTORY OF 

neglected no means of guardin.G^ the several land-passes. He 
stationed troops l)clc*\v the town, at every place where an 
entry was considered practicable; and, to cause the utmost 
vigour in every department, immediately proclaimed mar- 
tial law. 

All the principal bayous or inlets, communicating with 
lake Ponchartrain, as well as the narrow strip of land on the 
border of the INIississippi, had been secured. There was, 
however, a communication with lake Borgne, called the 
Bayou Bienvenu, little known, and used only by fishermen, 
its head near the plantation of general Villerc, seven miles 
below the city. Guided by some traitors, the enemy, on the 
22d, came suddenly on the American guard, through that 
secret passage, and made them prisoners; one of their divi- 
sions, under general Keane, at four o'clock in the morning, 
reached the commencement of Villere's canal, having dis- 
embarked and rested a few hours, proceeded through the 
cane-brake, and, at two in the afternoon, arrived on the 
bank of the river. The alarm being given, general Jack- 
son resolved immediately to attack him. In four hours, 
the American corps were united on Rodrigues' canal, six 
miles below the city. The whple did not then exceed two- 
thousand. The British force* at this time, amounted to 
three-thousand; but, convinced that the most arduous part 
of the enterprise was achieved, instead of marching direct- 
ly towards the city, they had encamped, and were prepar- 
ing their evening repast. They were soon made sensible of 
their error. Never were any troops more suddenly disturb- 
ed. The first intimation of the Americans' approach, was 
a raking broadside from commodore Patterson's schooner, 
the Caroline; the fires enabling him to take deliberate aim. 
Coftee's division impetuously rushed upon their right, whilst 
Jackson's, with equal rapidity, advanced against their front. 
Though surprised, and several hundreds killed and wound- 
ed, they were not yet defeated : extinguishing their fires, 
they came boldly forward into action. The fighting, how- 
ever, soon afterwards ceased. A thick fog having produced 
some confusion in the American troops, Jackson prudently 
called them off, lay on the field until morning, and then 
took a position on the other side of the canal. His loss 
was twenty-four killed and about two-hundred wounded and 
prisoners: that of the British, estimated, in all, at four-hun- 
dred. 

The American general lost no time in fortifying his post. 
This was effected by a simple breast-work, from the river 



THE UNITED STATES. 287 

to the swamp, with a ditch in front; cotton bales, of a 
square form, being used, as the checks of the embrasures. 
Meanwhile, the enemy having blown up the Caroline, which 
was previously abandoned by her crew, their commander 
in chief, Sir Edward Packenham, landed the main body of 
his army ; on the 28th, advanced up the levee, with the in- 
tention of driving Jackson from his intrenchments, and, at 
the distance of half a mile, began the attack on the unfin- 
ished works, with Congreve rockets and a heavy cannonade. 
But they were a second time repulsed. A fresh American 
schooner having been brought up, caused great havoc 
amongst their columns : the fire from the batteries was not 
less destructive ; and, after an obstinate struggle of seven 
hours, the British general retired. The Americans at this 
time, lost fifteen in killed and wounded ; the enemy, consid- 
erably more. 

. On the 1st of January, the invaders made another 

attempt to force general Jackson's fortifications. 
They had, in the night, erected an adjacent battery, and, 
early in the morning, opened a brisk cannonade ; making, 
at the same time, two bold efforts to turn his left wing: but 
they were a third time repulsed, with the loss of about sev- 
enty men. ' 

On the 4th, general Jackson received an increase of twen- 
ty-five-hundred militia, from Kentucky^ under generals 
Thomas and Adair; and on the 6th, the British were rein- 
forced by the arrival of general Lambert. Their whole 
number was now fourteen-thousand. General Jackson com- 
manded about six-thousand. An interesting moment was 
approaching. Serious preparations were commenced, for 
storming the American works, now strengthened by addi- 
tional batteries, and by additional small arms. The lines, 
on the right bank, were intrusted to general Morgan; with 
the Louisiana, and detachments of New Orleans and Ken- 
tucky, militia. The works on the left bank, covering the 
main body, were occupied by general Jackson himself; with 
the Tennessee forces, under generals Coffee and Carroll ; 
also, a part of the Kentucky and New Orleans militia; the 
seventh and forty-fourth regiments of United States' infan- 
try ; with corps of active sailors and marines. Here, the 
intrenchments extended about a thousand yards, between 
the river and the swamp ; strengthened, on the flanks, by 
batteries ; and, in front, by a wet ditch, having about four 
feet depth of water. 

Early in the morning of the 8th of January, the British 



288 HISTORY OF 

columns moved forward, at the same time, against the rig-ht 
and left of the American batteries. They approached with 
a determined countenance, with their muskets shouldered, 
accompanied by detachments carrying fascines and ladders. 
The former were designed to fill up the ditches in front ; 
and with the latter they intended to mount the ramparts. 
The American artillery opened a tremendous fire, at the 
distance of nine-hundred yards, and mowed them down with 
terrible slaughter. But they still moved on with a firm 
step; invariably supplying the place of the fallen, with fresh 
troops. At length, they came within reach of the Amer- 
ican small-arms. The whole of Jackson's line was now en- 
veloped in flames. The cannon thundered from every Bat- 
tery : the rifles were leveled with deadly aim ; grape-shot 
and shells were scattered as thick as hail-stones, over the 
plain. The enemy's columns faltered, but were, in a mo- 
ment, pressed forward by their oflicers. But all their ef- 
forts succeeded only in leading their veteran soldiers to de- 
struction : the men shrunk from a contest, in which they 
saw nothing but immediate slaughter. The columns broke, 
and retreated in confusion. A few pushed boldly forv/ard ; 
dropping half their men in the desperate adventure. Some 
of the head platoons, led by colonel Renee, leaped the ditch, 
and clambered up the rampart : but, scarcely had they 
reached the parapet, and raised a shout, when the whole, 
with a single exception, were brought down, and their dead 
bodies tumbled into the ditch. The repulse was now uni- 
versal. A second effort was notwithstanding tried. Col- 
lecting all their courage, and animated by rage and disap- 
pointment, the invaders made another furious assault. But 
it w^as with the same result : every exertion to bring them 
to the intrenchments was ineffectual. 

On the right bank, however, the enemy had gained the 
advantage. By some unaccountable misconduct of the 
troops, who had, on other occasions, displayed great intre- 
pidity, a detachment, conducted across the river in boats, 
by colonel Thornton, obtained possession of the batteries. 
But, as soon as the fate of his companions, on the left bank, 
was ascertained, the conquest was abandoned. 

The loss of the British army, on this memorable day, was 
seven-hundred killed, fourteen-hundred wounded, and five- 
hundred captured. That of the Americans, on the left bank 
of the Mississippi, was no more than six killed, and nijie 
wounded : on both banks, it was thirteen killed, thirty-nine 
wounded, and nineteen missing. The invaders had to re- 



THE UNITED STATES. 289 

^ret the death of many experienced and gallant officers. 
General Packenham, a brother-m-law of lord Wellington, 
fell early in the engagement. Generals Keane and Gibbs, 
who, as well as Packenham, had distinguished themselves 
against the French in Spain, were dangerously wounded^ 
Keane survived only a few days ; the command having, in 
the interim, devolved on general Lambert. 



CHAPTER Xn, 

PEACE OF GHENT. 

Banks, The Army and Kavy. 

THE splendid preservation of New Orleans is the last 
military subject, material for us to notice. The defeat of 
the British before Plattsburgh, having given a new turn to 
the negotiation, a treaty of peace was signed at Ghent on 
the 24th of December, (in the preceding year,) ratified by 
the prince regent of England on the 28th, and by the pre- 
sident of the United States, with the approbation of the sen* 
ate, on the last day of February, 1815. Both nations agreed 
to restore their respective conquests, to appoint commis- 
sioners for settling disputed boundaries, and pledged them- 
selves to use their utmost endeavours towards the entire 
abolition of the slave trade. No allusion was made to the 
causes of the war. Security against their recurrence, rests^ 
however, on a much firmer basis than the provisions of the 
most solemn treaty. Britain has been taught to appreciate 
the strength of the republic. She will read, in the history 
of the late struggle, the most convincing arguments against 
the invasion of neutral rights. 

Hostilities had continued two years and eight months ; 
but, for the purpose of distinction, the contest will be known 
as the Three Years' War. It increased the public debt a 
hundred-millions of dollars, and made the whole arrears 
about a hundred-and-fifty-millions ; a sum that can, in a few 
years, be discharged, by the ordinary revenue. But the 
gjerme of a la:sting evil was created, in the nearly universal 
failure of the banks. So largely, had these speculated in 
«5 



290 HISTORY OF 

the national funds, (excepting the banks in the casteni 
states, which were restrained by prudence, and aversion to 
the war,) that, in the autumn of 1814, not a single institu- 
tion, in any of the sea-ports, south of New England, could 
redeem its notes. The western states felt a similar embar- 
rassment. The national bank had ceased to exist, on the 
expiration of its charter. The notes of all that were not 
able to pay their engagements in metallic coin, depreciated 
from twenty to thirty per cent. Mercantile failures were 
alarming. The fiscal operations of the government were 
almost suspended. Opportunities of fraud were every day 
increasing. Designing individuals, who possessed not any 
capital, nor any credit, unless at a distance from their hab- 
itations, spread innumerable banks throughout the country, 
got into their hands immense sums of money, by discount- 
ing promissory notes, and employing agents for the circu- 
lation of their paper ; and, sanctioned by the situation of 
the more respectable establishments, amassed fortunes, by 
the issuing of bills, upon which they allowed no interest 
against themselves, whilst they were charging the accus- 
tomed interest to others. Patriotism can not be adduced 
to extenuate the injury done by those enormous subscrip- 
tions to the public loans. Excepting the magnanimous aid 
given to the old congress, by the Bank of North America, 
at Philadelphia, history furnishes no evidence of disinter- 
ested assistance, on the part of any body, formed, as are all 
similar companies, upon the narrow basis of private benefit. 
The peace establishment of the regular army was fixed 
at ten-thousand men. The militia, however, assembles 
monthly, and includes, with a few exceptions, every citizen 
of vigorous age. The naval power, as regarded the larger 
vessels, was not diminished ; but, on the contrary, was al- 
lowed gradually to augment. On the Atlantic service, there 
were now afloat, one ship of seventy-four guns, seven frig- 
ates, nine sloops of war, and fourteen schooners : on the 
lakes, were twenty-nine vessels, carrying three-hundred-and- 
sixty guns ; making the whole naval force, including gun- 
boats, two-hundred-and-seventy-four vessels, with fifteen- 
hundred guns. In 1791, the national mint was established 
at Philadelphia ; in 1798, the navy department at Wash- 
ington ; and, in 1802, the military academy at West Point, 
©n the same principles as the polytechnic school at Paris- 



THE UNITED STATES. 291 

CHAPTER XHI. 

CESSION OF FLORIDA. 

Commercial Treaty with England. Re-establi.shment of a 
JSTational Bank. Indiana. Mississijifii. Illinois. Ala- 
bama. Maine. Missouri. Florida ceded by S/iain. Pro- 
gress of the Arts and of Literature ; of Population and 
Emancifiation, 

THE amicable relations with Great Britain, which had 
been restored by the treaty of Ghent, were soon afterwards 
drawn closer by a treaty of commerce. This convention, 
which was negotiated at London by Messrs. Adams, Clay, 
and Gallatin, and concluded by them on the third of July, 
stipulates, that the duties charged on merchandise and ton- 
nage shall be reciprocally the same, in both nations ; wheth- 
er the vessels entering their respective ports be of Great 
Britain or the United States ; and, that the vessels of the 
latter shall be allowed, under certain limitations, to trade 
with the principal British settlements in the East Indies. 
But, a similar privilege was not extended by England with 
regard to her colonies in the West Indies and on the conti- 
nent of North America. Her navigation laws, made in the 
reign of Charles the second, were, in respect to these, with 
the exception of Bermuda, Halifax, and St. John's, most 
rigorously maintained ; and, consequently, the United 
States, judging it expedient to enact a countervailing regu- 
lation, have since excluded from their ports all vessels sail- 
ing from the American colonies of England. 
, . But those pacific conventions did not lessen the 

propriety of augmenting the national defence. Peace 
is the most advantageous time for preparing the means of 
war. Congress resolved that the nayy should be still far- 
ther increased ; and, for this purpose, voted an annual ap- 
propriation of one-million of dollars, during eight years, 
and authorized the president to have built, independent of 
vessels of a smaller size, nine ships of the line, twelve frig- 
ates, and three floating batteries ; the latter to be propelled 
by steam. *' 

The return of peace had not yet restored the currency of 
metallic coin. The banks conthiued to inundate the coun- 
try with paper money. Except in New England, all these 
institutions laboured under a continued inability to pay 



2S2 HISTORY OF 

their notes in gold or silver. Speculators were still lavishly^ 
supplied by new issues, and no termination appeared of the 
vexatious embarrassments arising from these fertile sources 
of national evil. In the absence of an adequate amount of 
specie, to meet the public claims, and create a respectable 
circulation, as well as a test of their solidity, the re-estab- 
lishment of a national bank, which had ceased, by the ex- 
piration of its charter, in 1810, was thought to be the most 
speedy cure. It was, therefore, enacted, after a most stren- 
uous opposition, that a bank should be organized, with a 
capital of thirty-five-millions of dollars, to continue twenty- 
one years from the first of July. Its labours to attain these 
ends, were, in the beginning, highly beneficial. A day was 
fixed, on which should be resumed a simultaneous payment 
of notes, in coin. All banking companies, that did not, ac- 
cordingly, redeem their promises, were known to be insol- 
vent ; a salutary check was thus placed on the immoderate 
circulation of their notes, and commercial adventure con- 
fined by the prudent employment of only a sufficient capi- 
tal. But, the general management of this great monied 
corporation was most reprehensible. Its first salutary in- 
fluence was counterbalanced by its succeeding conduct. 
Extravagant sums were advanced, in the way of discounts, 
on the security of its own hypothecated stock ; shares of 
which, originally obtained for a hundred dollars, were thus 
inflated to a hundred-and-sixty, but afterwards, on the ex- 
posure of this immoral scheme, they declined to eighty. 
Several millions were, in consequence, lost by the institu- 
tion, and many individuals were rendered pennyless. Con- 
gress was not inattentive to this perversion, which, instead 
of relief, had diffused ruin, throughout the country. Its 
president was removed, and in his place was appointed Mr. 
Cheves, formerly speaker of the house of representatives, 
ajid, more recently, one of the judges of South Carolina ; 
under whose able and impartial direction, the capital of the 
bank having been gradually restored, its stock has again 
risen above par. 

The next subject that engrossed the attention of con- 
gress, was a revision of the duties on goods imported. In 
forming the new tariff, a judicious attention was given to 
protect domestic manufactures, without, at the same time, 
injuring the national revenue, or lessening, by over-indul- 
gence, the industry and economy requisite to their full suc- 
cess.. The double war imposts were, with few exceptions, 



THE UNITED STATES. 293 

reduced ; but, a large increase was made to the duties on 
some fabrics, particularly cotton cloths, of a coarse de- 
scription, especially when imported from the East Indies ; 
where, these articles are manufactured by persons content- 
ed with daily wages not exceeding a few cents, and from a 
material not grown in the United States. 

_ Mr. Madison having filled the office of president 
a second period of four years, and, in conformity 
with the example of his several predecessors, not having, a 
third time, offered himself as a candidate for that honoura- 
ble station, was succeeded by James Monroe; the vice pre- 
sidential chair being assigned to Daniel Tomkins of New 
York. 

Mr. Monroe, who enjoys the rare happiness of promoting 
the esteem, and combining in his favour the suffrages, of 
all parties, is, as were all the presidents, except Mr. Adams, 
a native of Virginia. At the early age of seventeen, he was 
dangerously wounded in the battle of Trenton, was soon af- 
terwards appointed aid-de-camp to lord Stirling, and sub- 
sequently colonel of a regiment. In 1782, he was intrust- 
ed with a seat in the legislature of his native state, in the 
following year he was a member of the national congress, 
and in 1790 was chosen a senator of the United States. 
Soon after the formation of the French republic, he was 
deputed, by general Washington, as an ambassador to Paris; 
and, at another time, by Mr. Jefferson, to negotiate, with 
the consulate of France, the purchase of Louisiana. In 
1803, he was appointed minister to London, and, two years 
afterwards, was sent on a special mission to Madrid. On 
his return, he was elected governor of Virginia ; in the 
following year, was appointed secretary of state ; and, after 
the capture of the city of Washington, he consented to un- 
dertake the arduous duties of secretary of war. 

In the winter of this year, the country was de- 
prived of the services of commodore Perry; who fell 
a victim to the climate of Trinidad : and, in the following 
spring, Decatur was killed in a duel, near Washington, by 
commodore Barron. 

Since the termination of the war, by the peace of Ghent, 
the foreign and domestic trade of the United States, con- 
tinued to be variable and unprofitable. Merchandise and 
shipping, as well as landed estates, which, in the first two 
years of peace, had risen to an almost unprecedented de- 
gree, did not long mainta-in their value, The channels •£ 
^ 25* 



294 HISTORY OF 

consumption in America, became gradually supplied and 
overfilled. The use of her grain, in Europe, had almost 
ceased. The universal peace allowed the ships of every 
nation to be its own carriers, and its own citizens to be 
again its merchants. The flag of the United States, (as it 
had been before their rupture with England) was no longer 
the agent in trading between the various belligerants, nor 
were their sea-ports the general entrepots of the world. 
The terms of freight rapidly declined, vessels rotted in the 
American ports, ware-houses groaned under the stagnant 
pressure of accumulating merchandise. Internal traffic 
was not sufficient to employ the numerous individuals, com- 
pelled to seek, at home, a field of enterprise, now closed 
to them abroad. Competition, throughout the Union, be- 
came excessive. Houses and lands were advanced to dou- 
ble, and in many places, to treble, their former prices. 
Bank-loans had created a superabundance of paper-money, 
and furnished unlimited means of speculation and of sump- 
tuous living. But the crisis at length arrived. After the 
re-establishment of the national bank, the redemption of 
that easily acquired money was no longer optional, but 
compulsory. Loans were, henceforth, given with caution, 
payment was demanded of those already issued, property 
was hurried into the market to answer this sudden call, and 
estate of all kinds declined to its former price. This, is a 
brief exhibition of the disasters produced by the transition 
from a warlike to a pacific condition, and which may be 
expected in changing also from peace to war. Let us, 
however, pray fervently iov peace ; and seek comfort by the 
slow but faithful aid of industry and economy, rather than 
splendour by the rapid career of deceitful speculation. 

The public revenue could not escape being impaired by 
these multifarious embarrassments. It became inadequate 
to the expenditure, lately increased by a support given to 
the revolutionary soldiery. By an act of congress, in 1818, 
a yearly pension, sufficient for their decent maintenance, 
having been granted to those officers and privates who had 
served three successive years, more than thirty-thousand of 
that venerable army made application for relief. Several 
inillions were annually required to satisfy their claims. 
Money was, in consequence, obtained by loans, and other 
public expenses were curtailed. The military was reduced 
, ^ . in number, and the building of ships of war, in some 
" degree, suspended. The army now consists of six- 



THE UNITED STATES. 295 

thousand men ; the navy, fit for service, of eight vessels of 
the line, seven frigates, seven sloops or corvettes, and ten 
brigs and schooners. 

Since the admission of Louisiana, in 1812, six other states 
have been received into the Union, — Indiana, Mississippi, 
Illinois, Alabama, Maine, and Missouri. The original 
members of the federal government were thirteen : they 
are now twenty-four. Indiana was admitted in 1816, Mis- 
sissippi in 18b7, and Illinois in 1818; Alabama in 1819, 
Maine and Missouri* (the latter conditionally) in 1820. 
Indiana and Illinois are sections of the same territory from 
which Ohio was made a state : Mississippi and Alabama 
belonged to Georgia; Maine was separated from Massachu- 
setts, and Missouri from the vast tract ceded by the French, 
under the name of Louisiana. Slavery is forbidden, by a 
law of congress, to exist in Indiana or Illinois, and had long 
ceased in Maine, as a district of Massachusetts. 

A negotiation, commenced with Spain, for the remainder 
of that portion of her territory, named Florida, v/hich had 
been interrupted by the temporary overthrow of the old 
Spanish dynasty by Napoleon, was, on the return of Ferdi- 
nand the seventh to Madrid, renewed. That region was, at 
length, assigned to the United States. A treaty was con- 
cluded at Washington, on the twenty-second of February, 
1819; which, after many vexatious delays on the part of 
Spain, was ratified by Ferdinand on the twenty-fourth of 
October, in the succeeding year, approved by the senate 
of the United States on the nineteenth, and by the presi- 
dent, on the twenty-second of February, 1821. Five- 
millions of dollars were named as the price of Florida. 
This sum is not, however, to be paid to Spain. It is to 
be apportioned amongst the American citizens, as indem- 
nity for illegal seizures made of their property, in Spanish 
ports, when under the uncontrollable influence of France. 
Florida, though desirable as an extensive field of profitable 
agriculture, is more important, as placing the southern 
boundary of the United States on the Gulf of Mexico ; and, 
consequently, removing the disagreeable jealousies, which 
had frequently irritated the feeiings of the two nations, 
caused by the occupation of Amelia Island and other 

* The legislature of Missouri, having* signified its concurrence with 
the aci of congress, restricting it tVom preven'.ii;g the iesidence of 
free persons of colour, ii was formally declured a siate, by a proclaj- 
mation of the president, on the tenth of August, 1821. 



296 HISTORY OF 

places, by disorderly troops, under ill-judged commissions 
from the South American republics ; as well as by the in- 
roads of the Seminole and other nations, when stimulated 
either by their own chiefs, or foreign white people who 
had visited them for trade : — and the treaty designates the 
boundary on the side of Mexico, (as delineated in the map 
of the United States, by Melish,) which had been undefined 
in the cession of Louisiana. 

Literature and science ; the arts, useful and ornamental ; 
are every year extending in the United States. No coun- 
try has more liberally provided for seminaries of learning, 
as respects the rudimental instruction of the labouring clas- 
ses ; and few governments have devoted more attention to 
the studies of the accomplished scholar, than the different 
legislatures of this great republic. Useful education is ve- 
ry generally attained. Works of polite literature, as well as 
of scientific subjects, are much esteemed, by all who claim 
association with genteel society ; and writings of domestic 
origin evince, that there continues to be a large fund of na- 
tive talent in the United States. Many of those have been 
already noticed. Dr. Morse has laid the foundation of a 
geographical dictionary. The Notes on Virginia show, that 
Jeiferson, when treating on geological subjects, has min- 
gled a little scepticism with much strong philosophical ar- 
gument. Ramsay's history of the Revolution is written 
with sufficient dignity and elegance, and with as rigid im- 
partiality as any narrative that ever issued from an honest 
pen : his biography of Washington, though an abridgment, 
in comparison with the life by Marshall, should be translat- 
ed into every language, and placed, at an early age, in the 
hands of every youth. There is another history of the re- 
volutionary period, from the accomplished hand of Mrs. 
Warren. D wight was a voluminous writer on theology, 
and courted the favour of the poetic muse. His version of 
the Psalms is approved by several respectable congrega- 
tions, but his conquest of Canaan is little read. He has the 
ear, without the imagination, of a poet. This production 
is the out-pouring of a mind, encumbered and overwhelm- 
ed by the accumulated lines of other writers. It displays 
no novelty of thought, nor variety of style. One who is 
familiar with only a small number of poems, can not easily 
persuade himself that the Canaan is a new work. The an- 
tithetic and condensed structure of Pope, and the flowing 
melody of Goldsmith, are pleasing, when accompanied by 
a teeming richness of fancy j but the monotonous imitatioiJS 



THE UNITED STATES. 297 

by Dwight, are insupportably fatiguing.* In the Vision of 
Columbus, or Columbiad, of Joel Barlow, the language 
is smooth and stately; the allusions are judicious, the simi- 
lies mostly well drawn, and appropriate. It is, altogether, 
a respectable performance, and superior to the Canaan. 
But dignity, softness, and general propriety, are its whole 
merits. Those bold, happy efforts, of the imagination, which 
interest and delight us, equally by their novelty and inge- 
nuity, are seldom found in the Columbiad. The structure 
of the Iliad ; its manner, similies, and figures, as copied or 
varied in the jEneid, and reflected in the fine translations, 
of the former by Pope and Cowper, and of the latter, by Pitt 
and Dryden ; incessantly recur. M'Fingall, a Hudibrastic 
satire by Trumbull, exhibits more invention than either of 
the preceding. Charles Thomson has translated the Bible 
from the Septuagint. John Quincy Adams has published 
his brilliant course of rhetorical lectures. The '^ British 
Spy" of Wirt, decidedly claims a place amongst the Ameri- 
can classics. Salmagundi, the combined effusions of Ir- 
ving, Paulding, and Verplanek, is an admirable fund of hu* 
mour, and contains some beautiful specimens of poetry. 
The semi-historical volumes, entitled Knickerbocker's His- 
tory of New York, by Irving, give a most humorous carica- 
ture of real events. Paulding's allegorical history, bearing 
the title of John Bull and Brother Jonathan, will not appear 
the less entertaining, when compared with the happiest ef- 
fort of Swift, in the same difficult line of political satire. 
These three authors possess fine talents for the comic dra- 
ir.a. Brackenridge writes with energy and clearness. 
Walsh is known by his strictures on the French revolution> 

♦ "Give me the line that ploughs its stately coursCj 
Like a proud swan, conquering the stream by force; 
That, like some collage be./ily, strikes the heart. 
Quite unindebted lo the tricks of art. 
"When labour and when dullness, club in hand» 
I/ike ihe two figures ai St. Dunfitan's, stand, 
Beating alternately, in measui-ed i-hyuje. 
Exact and reguhirtlie sounds will be. 
But such mere quarter-strokes are notfor me." 

Cowper's Table Talk, 

Speaking of Pope, Cowper says ; — 

"But he, (his musical fines.se was such,) - 
So nice his ear, so delicate his touch, 
Made poetry a mere mechanic art. 
And every warbler has his tune by heart/* 



298 HISTORY OF 

Carey's style is bold, familiar, and impressive. His typo- 
graphical emphases, for which he is remarkable, are not 
veiy comphmentary to his readers ; and perhaps, by the 
majority, are not required : however, where prejudice exists, 
or a clear mental perception is wanting, the ocular aid af- 
forded in his valuable Olive Branch, is not only pardonable, 
but useful. 

Architecture, except in a few buildings at New York and 
Philadelphia, and the capitol and president's house at Wash- 
ington, has not yet appeared in classical elegance or gran- 
deur ; but, in private dwellings, there is shown a neatness, 
durability, and elegance of workmanship, not surpassed in 
the finest cities of the old world. Useful inventions are en- 
couraged by the legislature; and the fertility of American 
genius is commensurate with the protection. It is not a just 
criterion of ingenuity, that, in twenty -four years, two-thous- 
and general patents were obtained, to secure the inventors* 
rights : a considerable number of these improvements are of 
European growth, and many American theories are proved 
illusive by the hand of practice ; but the inventive faculty 
in the United States is demonstrated by various exhibitions 
of mechanical economy. Whittimore's engine for making 
wool and cotton cards, is a wonderful display of mental fac- 
vilty ; and the machinery for cutting nails, the invention, we 
believe, of Briggs, embraces, in its successive improve- 
ments, an interesting variety of labour-saving modifications. 
The accomplishment of an eff'ective steam-boat, is an era 
in human progress. Fulton is entitled to the same species 
of merit, for his successful adaption of the power of steam 
to navigation, that is due to Watt, of Great Britain, for his 
improvement in the steam-engine. A century had elapsed, 
from the time when the first hint of this engine was given 
by the marquis of Worcester, to its consummation by the 
philosophic Watt ; and nearly as long an interval, from the 
first experiment on the steam-boat, by Jonathan Hulls, of 
London, to its completion by Robert Fulton. Hulls obtain- 
ed a patent for his invention, from George the second, in 
the year 1737 ; Fitch propelled a boat, by the same princi- 
ple, on the Delaware, in 1783: Miller, of Scotland, con- 
structed a double boat, with a wheel in the centre, with 
which, he made a safe passage to and from Sweden, in 1789 : 
and, finally, after various trials, by different persons, on the 
Thames and on the Seine, Fulton rendered the plan sus- 
ceptible of little farther improvement, in 1807. The Cler- 
mont was then driven on the Hudson, at the rate of five 



THE UNITED STATES. 299 

miles an hour ; and, subsequently, all the great rivers of 
the United States have been navigated, by similar vessels, 
fully twice the distance in the same space of time. In the 
summer of 1819, the Atlantic was crossed, for the first time, 
by a steam-boat. A vessel driven by steam, with the occa- 
sional aid of sails, was despatched by some enterprising 
merchants of Savannah, to St. Petersburg^, and made her 
passage home in fifty days. Fulton, celebrated also for his 
submarine explosions, was born in Little Britain, Pennsyl- 
vania, and educated in the town of Lancaster; whence, hav- 
ing removed to Philadelphia, he attended, for a short time, 
the business of a jeweller, and acquired, in his leisure hours, 
considerable proficiency in the art of painting. He lived 
many years in England, under the patronage of the Ameri- 
can West; and, becoming known to his countryman, Rum- 
sey, the duke of Bridgewater, lord Stanhope, and many 
other opulent promoters of the arts, attended, thencefor- 
ward, chiefly his favourite inclination towards the formation 
of canals. Paris was the next theatre of his enterprise ; 
where he rem_ained, for several years, the companion of the 
American minister, Joel Barlow, and the inmate of his 
house. He returned to his native country, in 1806; and 
died, when little above the middle age, by inflammation of 
the lungs, in 1815, at New York. 

The neutrality, so long maintained by the American re- 
public, offered an asylum to many distinguished Europeans. 
The visit of Moore, the lyric poet, was one of pleasure. 
But Talleyrand, the great political Proteus, resided several 
years in the United States, to avoid the proscriptions of his 
own country; a son of the marquis la Fayette, Chateaubri- 
and, Volney, general Moreau, Joseph and Jerome Buona- 
parte; Dr. Priestley, the celebrated philosopher and polemi- 
cal divine ; also Thomas Paine ; sought refuge in different 
places of the Union. Dr. Priestley died in Pennsylvania ; 
the latter, in New York. Jerome Buonaparte was unwor- 
thy of protection. His conduct, in deserting, by his broth- 
er's mandate, the daughter of a respectable citizen of Bal- 
timore, whom he had married, and afterwards placing on 
his throne a princess of Napoleon's choice, will always be 
remembered with detestation. Her disappointment, and 
his own reverse, remind us, when impelled by inordinate 
ambition, that happiness cannot be secured by exalted rank, 
nor a throne by the power of armies. 

In the year 1820, the fourth census of the inhabitants 
■was recorded. In 1790, the population was three-millions- 



3oa HISTORY OF 

nine-hundred -and -twenty-one-thousand ; m 1800, five-mll- 
lions-three-hundred-and -twenty-thousand ; in 1810, seven- 
millions-two-hundred-and-forty-thousand ; m 1820, nine- 
millions -six-hundred-and-thirty-eight-thousand. At the last 
of these periods, the inhabitants of Boston numbered forty- 
two-thousand ; of Providence, twelve ; New York, one- 
Imndred-and-twenty ; Philadelphia, one-hundred-and-nf- 
teen ; Pittsburg, seven-thousand ; Baltimore, sixty-two ; 
Washington, thirteen; Norfolk, eight ; Richmond, twelve ; 
Charleston, twenty-five ; Savannah, seven ; New Orleans, 
twenty-seven-thousand. The Indians within the federal ju- 
risdiction, are not included in the census. In 1790, six- 
hundred-and-ninety-eight-thousand were slaves; in 1800, 
eight-hundred-and-ninety-seven-thousand ; in 1810, one- 
million-one-hundred-and-ninety-one-thousand; in 1820, one- 
million-five-hundred-and-thirty-thousand. In those which 
are denominated slave-holding states, the largest proportion 
appeared, then, in South Carolina, Louisiana, and Georgia; 
Mississippi, Virginia, and Alabama ; North Carolina, Ma- 
ryland, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri; descending, in 
comparative amount, from South Carolina, where fifty-one 
out of every hundred of the entire population were in bond- 
age, to Missouri, in which were fifteen in every hundred. 
Delaware and New Jersey possessed a considerable num- 
ber of slaves : the latter, comparatively the smallest. The 
number in New York was proportionably less than in New 
Jersey : Rhode Island had only forty-eight ; Connecticut, 
proportionably fewer ; Pennsylvania, fewer still ; Maine, 
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont, none. 

Since the middle of the last century, expanded minds have 
been, with slow gradations, promoting the decrease of human 
.slavery in North America. The progress of truth is slow; 
but it will, in the end, prevail. The first voice raised against 
this uncharitable practice, v/as by a Quaker, the amiable 
and enlightened John Woolman, of Mount Holly, in New 
Jersey. He wrote his sentiments on that subject in the 
year 1746 ; strenuously recommended its abolition, at the 
several stated meetings of his society ; and, in 1754, pub- 
lished his " Considerations on the Keeping of Negroes ;" a 
work admirable for its dispassionate and lucid style of ar- 
gument ; highly beneficial in his own time, and deserving 
most serious attention at the present. Anthony Benezet, 
of Philadelphia, though his writings were subsequent to 
Woolman's, has acquired a yet higher rank among philan- 
tliropists. His labouris, in the same field, were singulai'ly 



THE UNITED STATES. 301 

active, and conspicuously successful. St. George Tucker, 
of Virginia, also, wrote an able dissertation against slavery. 
A duty on the importation of slaves was laid by New York, 
in 1753 ; by Pennsylvania, in 1762 ; and by New Jersey, in 
1769. Virginia, the first state concerned in their introduc- 
tion, was also the first that set an example of their exclu- 
sion; having, in the year 1778, amidst the perplexing scenes 
of civil warfare, passed an act to discontinue their entry in- 
to her ports. In 1780, Pennsylvania made a law for the 
gradual abolition of slavery ; a law, which, although it did 
not allow all the natural rights declared in her constitution, 
has the merit of being the earliest legislative proceeding of 
the kind, in any nation ; and, soon afterwards, there was in- 
stituted in the same state, a society " for promoting the 
abolition of slavery, for the relief of free negroes unlawfully 
held in bondage, and for improving the condition of the 
African race." All the states, north and east of Maryland, 
have since made laws for their gradual emancipation. On 
the adoption of the federal government, congress was au- 
thorized to prohibit, at the end of twenty years, the import- 
ation of negroes, into any part of the United States ; and, 
accordingly, no arrivals have legally occurred since 1807. 
In 1820, a society for colonizing free people of colour, be=- 
gan a settlement at Sierra Leone, on the coast of Africa. 
A heavy grievance, however, is yet to be removed. Vir- 
ginia, as well as every other American republic that still 
sanctions domestic bondage, will, we confidently anticipate, 
at no distant period, make arrangements, to unloosen, by 
degrees, the fetters, which are no less alarming to the mas- 
ter, than galling to the slave. Let us not only declare by 
words, but demonstrate by our actions, " That all men are. 
created equal ; that they are endowed, by their Creator, 
with the same unalienable rights ; that, amongst these, ari; 
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Let us vener- 
ate the instruction of that great and amiable man, to whom, 
chiefly, under Providence, the United States are indebted 
for their liberties ; the world, for a common home : " That 
there exists an indissoluble union between virtue and hap- 
piness, between duty and advantage." 



26 



INDEX. 



Adair, general, 287. 

Adams, John, 96, 100, 120, 124, 

127, 188, 203, 212, 217. 
Adams, John Quiiicy, 273, 291, 

297. 
Adams, Samuel, 104, 124. 
Alabama, 295. 
Albany, 71, 84. 
Alexandria, 281, 
Algiers, 198, 217. 
Allen, captain, 266. 
Allen, colonel, 103, 111. 
Andre, major, 169. 
Annapolis, 69. 
Armistead, major, 246,. 256, 282, 

283. 
Armstrong, gen. 270, 271, 279. 
Arnold, gen. 103, 110, 112, 113, 

114, 116, 134, 140, 142, 168, 

169, 173. 
Augusta, 79. 

B. 

Bacon, col. 38. 
Bainbridge, com. 218, 249. 
Baltimore city, 68, 234, 281, 283, 

300. 
Baltimore, lord, 68, 76. 
Banks, 172, 204, 289, 290, 291, 

292. 
Barclay, governor, 73. 
Barlow, Joel, 297. 
Barney, com. 144, 243, 277, 279. 
Bane, col. 89. 
Barron, com. 230, 231, 293. 
Barton, col. 133. 
Bavard, James A. 273. 
Beckvviih, gcu. 261, 262, 263. 
Benezet, Anthony, 300. 
Beniiington, 141. 
Berkely, sir W. 36, 37, 70. 
Biddle, capt. 275. 
Bladensburg, 278. 
Blakely, capt. 275. 
Blennerhasset, 227. 
Boon, col. 208. 
Boston, 51, 300. 
Boyd, s^n. 245, 258, 259, 271. 



Boylestone, Dr. 195. 

Braddock, gen. 85, 86. 

Brandy wine, 136. 

Breed's Hill. See Bunker's Hill. 

Brock, gen. 245. 

Brown, gen 248, 258, 273, 276. 

Brown, Robert, 46. 

Brownstown, 240. 

Buffaloe, 272. 

Bunker's Hill, 104, 105, 106. 

Buonaparte, Jerome, 299. 

Buonaparte, Joseph, 299. 

Buonaparte, Napoleon, 212, 229, 

233, 254, 273, 274, 277. 
Burgoyne, gen. 104, 105, 135, 140, 

141, 142, 143- 
Burke, Edmund, 187. 
Burlington bay, 257. 
Burr, col. 217, 226, 227. 
Burrougits, lieut. 266. 
Bute, lord, 92. 



Cabot, 19. 

Calvert, sir George, 68. 

Cambridge, 66. 

Camden, 160, 180. 

Canada, 86, 87. 

Carleton, gen. Ill, 113, 116. 

Carroll, gen. 285. 

Carver, John, 47. 

Cassin, com. 261. 

Chamblee, fort. 111. 

Champlain, lake, 283. 

Chandler, gen. 257. 

Charleston, 70, 119, 156, 157, 300. 

Charlestown, 51, 106, 119, 156, 

157. 
Chatham, lord, 86, 93, 101, 187. 
Chauncev, com. 248, 257, 258, 

259, 272, 273. 
Chesapeake, 26. 
Chester, 75, 79. 
Cheves, Langdon, 273, 292. 
Chippaway, 276. 
Christie, col. 245. 
Chrysiler's-field, 271. 
Clay, Henry, 273, 291. 
Clayton, Dr. 197. 



304 



INDEX. 



Clermont, ITS. 
Cleveland, col. 162, 163. 
Clinton, American gen. 172. 
Clinton, British gen. 104, 105, 

119, 125, 126, 146, 156, 157, 

158, 172, 181, 182, 185, 184. 
Cochrane, adm. 277, 282, 283. 
Cockburn, adm. 260, 262, 263, 

278. 
Codding-ton, "William, 52. 
Coffee, gen. 285, 286. 
College, Dartmouth, 67. 
College, Harvard, 65. 
College, New Haven, 67. 
College, Princeton, 73. 
College, William & Mary, 38. 
College, Yale, 67. 
Columbia, District of, 216, 
Columbus, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 

18. 
Concord, 102. 
Congress, old, 91, 100, 106, 130, 

137, 147, 190. 
Connecticut, 52, 193. 
Constitution, federal, 199. 
Cotton, Rev. Mr. 51. 
Cornwallis, lord, 129, 131, 136, 

158, 160, 174, 175, 176, 177, 

179, 180, 181, 182, 184, 185. 
Cotton, culture of, 70. 
Cowpens, 174. 
Cranev Island, 261. 
Croglian, col. 266, 267. 
Crown-point, 103. 
Crutchfield, major, 262. 

D. 

Dale, com. 218. 

Davis, col 259. 

Deane, Silas, 145. 

Dearborne, gen. 244, 245, 256, 

258. 
Debt, national, 204, 289. 
Decatur, com. 219, 242, 275, 293. 
D'Estaign, adm. 148, 153, 154 
De Grasse, adm. 170, 182, 183, 1 85. 
De Guichen, adm- 167, 168, 170. 
De Kalb, baron, 160, 161. 
Delaware, lord, 31, 32. 
Delaware, state, 71, 74, 78, 193. 
Derna, 220, 221. 
De Ternay, adm. 167, 170. 
Detroit, 238, 239, 268. 
Dickenson, gen. 133. 



Dickenson, John, 93, 100. 
Dinwiddie, governor, 82. 
Dorchester, 51, 118. 
Dover, 53- 

Drummond, gen. 276. 
Dudley, Thomas, 50. 
Du Portail, gen. 185. 
Duquesne, fort, 84, 107. 

E. 

Eaton, gen. 220, 221. 
Rlholm, capt. 155. 
Elizabeth Islands, 59. 
Elizabethtown, 73. 
Elliott, gen. 170. 
Elliott, Rev. Mr. 66. 
Embargo, 231, 232. 
Endicott, govei-nor, 49, 51. 
Erie, fort, 256, 276. 
Erie, lake, 248, 267. 
Eutaw, 180. 
Exeter, 54. 

F. 

Falmouth, 110. 

Fenwick, col. 245. 

Fishing creek, 161. 

Florida, 87, 170, 295. 

Forsvthe, col. 248, 254, 271. 

Fox,'C. J. 187, 232. 

Fox, George, 58. 

France, 166, 172. 

Franklin, Benj. 67, 85, 90, 115, 

124, 127, 138, 145, 188, 195, 

196 
Franklin, James, 67. 
Frenchtown, (Mich.) 250. 
Frenchtown, (Del.) 260. 
Fredericklown, 260. 
Fulton, Robert, 298, 299. 



Gage, gen. 98, 99, 102, 103, 104, 

105. 
Gaines, gen. 276. 
Gallatin, Albert, 273, 291. 
Gates, gen. 108, 109, 142, 160, 

164. 
Genet, M. 211. 
George, fort, 246, 256, 271. 
Georgetown, 260. 
Georgia, 79, 193, 194. 
Germantown, 75, 138. 
Gibbs, gen. 289. 



INDEX. 



305 



Government, 192, 193, 199. 

Grafton, duke of, 93, 95. 

Gvear Meadov/s, 84. 

Greaves, adni. 182. 

Greene, col. 139. 

Greene, .e^cn. 108, 130, 135, 138, 

146, 165, 173, 174, 175, 176, 

177, 180, 181. 
Grenville, Georg-e, 89. 
Guilford, 176. 

H. 

Hakluvt, Richard, 24, 25, 26. 
Hamilton, cen. 184, 199, 203, 204, 

205, 226';' 227. 
Hampton, gen, 270, 271. 
Hampton, town, 117, 261. 
Hancock, John, 94, 99, 104, 106, 

124, 140. 
Hanging Rock, 159. 
Hardy, com 263, 265. 
Harmar, gen. 209. 
Harrison, s:en. 237, 244, 250,251, 

252, 253, 267, 268, 269, 270. 
Hartfbrd. 52. 
Havre de Grace, 260. 
Hazlevvood, com. 140. 
Heath, gen. 99, 108. 
Henry, John, 234. 
Henrv, Patrick, 90, 117. 
Hobkirk Hill, 180. 
Holland, 171- 
Hooker, Rev. Mr. 52. 
Hopkins, com. 144. 
Howard, col. 174. 
Howe, adm. 119,147- 
Howe, gen. 104, 105, 118, 119, 

126, 127, 128, 129, 133, 134, 

135, 137, 138, 140, 146, 148. 
Huger, e;(;n. 175, 177. 
Hull, ca'pt. 240, 241. 
Hull, gen. 237, 238, 239, 240. 
Hull, John, 57. 
Hutchinson, Ann, 52. 
Hutchinson, gov. 97- 

I. 

Illinois, 295. 

Independence, declaration of, 120. 

Indiana, 295. 

Indians, 42, 43, 44, 209. 

Indigo, 70. 

Izardj gen. 273. 



3. 

Jackson, gen. 285, 286, 287, 288. 
Jamesto«-n, 26, 29, 30, 82 
Jav, John, 100, 188, 199, 203, 214. 
JefTerson, Thomas, 59, 93, 124, 

203, 212, 217, 223, 232. 
Johnson, col. 269. 
Jones, capt. 242. 
Jones, Paul. 144. 
Judiciary, 201. 

K. 

Keane, gen. 287, 289. 
Kentucky, 207, 208. 
Kettle-creek, 152. 
King's-mountain, 162. 
Kniphausen, gen. 129, 136, 15.6, 

164. 
Knox, gen. 127, 185, 203. 
Kosciuski, gen. 143. 

L. 

La CoUe's Mill, 273. 

La Goose's House, 258, 259. 

La Favette,135, 146, 167, 181, 182. 

Lambert, gen. 287, 289. 

Langdon, John, 100. 

Laurens, col. 184, 186. 

Laurens, Henry, 140, 171, 188. 

Lawrence, capt. 249,263,264,265, 

Lee, Arthur, 145. 

Lee, gen. Charles, 108, 109, 128, 

129, 130, 146, 147. 
Lee, gen. Henry, 151, 176, 173, 

206, 235. 
Lee, R. H. 120, 124. 
Lewis and (Jlarke, 223. 
Lewistown, 79, 259. 
Lexington, 102, 103. 
Lincoln, gen. 142, 151, 153, 157,. 

187, 199. 
Lingan, gen. 236. 
Livingston, chanc 100, 202- 
Livingston, col. 113, 114. 
Logan, Mr 196. 
Long Island, 71, 125. 
Louisiana, 82, 222, 223. 
Lovel, gen. 151. 

M. 

Macomb, gen. 271. 
Madison, James, 199, 204, 232, 
279, 295. 



306 



INDEX. 



Magnet, 7, l^. 

Maine, 54, 59, 295. 

Maize, ^). 

Manly, capt. 110. 

Marietta. 222. 

Marion, gen. 161, 162, 163, IT?, 

178, 181. 
Martha's Vineyarrl, 59. 
Maryland, 68, 193, 194. 
Massachusetts, 48, 193, 194. 
Mather, Cotton, 61, 195. 
M'Ciure, gen. 254, 271. 
M'Donough, com. 273, 283. 
M'Douga'il, gen. 127, 128, 138. 
Medical School, 77. 
Meigs, col. 134. 
Meigs, fori, 251, 252. 
Mercer, gen. 130, 132. 
M'Henry, fort, 282, 283. 
Michillimackinac, 238. 
Mifflin, fort, 138, 139. 
Mifflin, gen, 127, 138, 192. 
Military Academy, 290. 
Miller, capt. 279"! 
Miller, ^(t\-\. 240, 253. 
Mint, 290. 

Mississippi, river, 223. 
Mississippi, state, 295. 
Missouri, 295. 

Money, conriftental, 155, 172. 
Monmouth, 146. 
Monroe, James, 280, 293. 
Montgomery, gen. 108, 110, 111, 

113, 114.' 
Montreal, 111, 271. 
Moor's Fields, 281. 
Morgan, gen. 114, 174, 175. 
Morocco, 217. 
Morris, capt. 242. 
Morris, Robert, 124. 
Motte, Mrs. 178 
Moultrie, gen. 119, 151, 152. 
Mount Vernon, 83, 216. 
Murray, com. 218. 

N. 
Nantucket, 59. 
Navv, 1U9, 110, 158, 263, 291, 294, 

295. 
Negroes; see Slaves. 
Newark, (Canada,) 271. 
Newcastle, 74. 
New England, 45, 56 
New Hampshire, 5o, 193, 194. I 



New Jersey, 71. 72, 193. 

New Orleans, 86, 223, 284, 285, 

286, 287, 288. 
xN"ew Plyri^outh, 47, 48, 59. 
Newport, 52, 100 
New Providence, 144. 
New York, city, s:->, 128, 190,30(1 
New York, state, 71, 193, 194. 
Newspapers, 67, 77. 
Xiagara battle, 276. 
Niagara, fort, 246, 271. 
Ninety-six, 180. 
Non-intercourse, 232. 
Norfolk, 117, 150, 261, 300; 
North Carolina, 21, 69, 194. 
North, lord, 95, 187. 
North Point, 282. 
Nova Scotia, 59. 

O. 

Ogdensburg, 248, 254. 

Ogechee, 155. 

Oglethorpe, gen. 79, 80, 81. 

Ohio, 222. 

Oswego, 275. 

Otis, James, 91. 

P. 

Packenham, gen. 287, 289. 
Paine, Thomas, 94, 299. 
Paoli tavern, 137. 
Parker, adm. 119. 
Patterson, com. 285, 286. 
Paul us Hook, 151. 
Paulding, John, 169 
I'ennsvlvania, 71, 72^, 193 
Penn, William, 7o, 74, 75, 7^. 
Penobscot, 151. 
Pensacola, 285. 
Perry, com. 257, 268, 293. 
Peter, major, 278, 279. 
Philadelphia. 75, 137, 146, 500. 
Phipps, sir William, 59, 60, 63, 

64, &5. 
Pickens, col. 151, 174. 
Pike, ^(:\\. 225, 245, 248, 254, 255. 
Pittsburg, 84, 300. 
Pitt, Wi'lliam, 187. 
Piatt sburg, 259, 283, 284. 
Pocahuntas, 29, 32, oo- 
Pomeroy, gen 99, 105, 108. 
Populat'ion, ^^5, 50, 57, 299, 300. 
Porter, com. 249, 275. 
r»or'.er, gen. 256, 271, 276. 
Port Royal, 151. 



INDEX. 



!5or 



Portsmouth, R. I. 5^2. 
Portsmouth, N. H. 100. 
Postell, major, 177. 
Potato, 54. 
Powhatan, 29, 32, 33. 
Preble, com. 218, 219. 
President of the U. States, 199, 

203. 
Prevrst, gen. 149, 152, 258, 271. 

283, 284. 
^Priestley, Dr. 299. 
Princeton, 73, 132. 
Printing, 67. 
Proctor, gen. 250, 251, 253, 267, 

268, 269. 
Providence, 52, 300. 
Pulaski, count, 136, 137. 
Putnam, gen. 105, 108, 133, 222. 

Q. 

Quebec, 59, 82, 86, 111, 113. 
Queenstown, 245. 
Quincey, Josiah, 96. 

R. 

Raisin, river, 250. 
Raleigh, sir W. 21, 22, 23. 
Ramsay, Dr. 296. 
Randolph, Edmund, 203. 
Randolph, Peyton, 100, 106. 
Kawdon, lord, 158, 160, 180. 
Red Bank, 138, 139. 
Heed, col. 129, 145. 
Representatives, house of, 199,200. 
Rliode Island, 52, 192, 193. 
Rice, 70. 
Richmond, 300. 
Ridgfield, 134. 
Ripley, gen. 271, 276. 
Puttenhouse, David, 195, 197, 
Roanoke, 21, 22, 23. 
Robinson, Rev. John, 46. 
Rocfiambeau, gen. 167, 183, 185. 
Rockingham, marquis of, 92, 93, 

187. 
Rodgers, com. 282. 
Rodney, adm. 170, 171. 
Rolfe, Mr. 32. 

Ro.<;s, gen. 277, 278, 280, 282. 
Roxborough, 51. 
Rush, Benjamin, 124, 206. 
Russel, Jonathan, 273. 
Ruiledge, Edvv. 100, 124, 127, 
Rutledge, John, 152, 156, 203. 



S. 
Sackett's Harbour, 258. 
Sagg Harbour, 134. 
Salem, 49, 50, 97, 99. 
Saltonstali, com. 151. 
Sandusky, fort, 267. 
Saratoga, 143. 

Savannah, 79, 148, 153, 186, 300. 
Saybrook, 53, 55. 
Schuyler, gen. 108, 110, 141. 
Scott, gen. 245, 256, 276. 
Senate of the U. States, 199, ?0G,. 
Shay, Daniel, 198. 
Shelburne, lord, 187. 
Shelby, gov. 162, 269, 270. 
Shepherd, gen. 199. 
Sierra Leone, 301. 
Slaves, 34, 68, 80, 300, 301. 
Small-pox, 195. 
Smallwood, gen, 138. 
Smith, Captkin, 27, 28, 29, 30, SI", 

32 45 47. ~^ 

Smith, gen. S. 139, 282, 283. 
Smyth, gen. 245, 247. 
Somerset, 133. 
South Carolina, 70, 193, 194. 
Spain, 169. 

Springfield, 52, 133, 199. 
Starke, gen, 105, 141. ' 
St. Clair, gen. 130, 141, 209. 
Steam-boat, 298. 
Sterrett, Captain, 217, 218. 
Stewart, Captain, 275. 
St. George, fort. See Fort George. 
Stillwater, 142. 
Stirling, gen. lord, 126, 130, 135, 

139, 146. 
St. Johns, fort, HI. 
Stoney-point, 150. 
Stonington, 275. 
Stono JFerry, 153. 
Strieker, gen. 282, 283. 
Stuyvesant, gov. 71, 72. 
Sugar, maple, 194. 
Sullivan, gen. 108, 116, 125, 126, 

130, 135, 138. 
Sullivan's Island, 119. 
Sumpter, gen. 159, 160, 177. 
Sunbury, 149. 

T. 
Tarleton, col. 158, 174, 176. 
Taxes, British, 85, 88,89, 90, 92, 

93, 95, 96. 



508 



INDEX. 



Tecumseh, 236, 269, 270. 
TenM-'^s.sees 222. 
Thames, 269. 
Thomas, j,^^n. 99, 108, 116. 
Th',>m.^cn, Charles, 90, 100, 297, 
Three Rivers, 116. 
Ticonderoga, lu3, 140. 
Tippecanoe, 237. 
Titles, 193, 201. 
Tobaccok, 34, 40, 53. 
Towiishend, Charles, 89, 93. 
Treaty of Paris, 145, 188. 

of Greenville, 210. 

with French repub. 212. 

Jay's with G. Brit. 214. 

wi\h Tripoli, 221. 

of Ghent, 289. 
Trenton, 73, 130, 131, 132. 
Tripoli, 217, 218, 221. 
Truxiun, com. 212. 
Tunis, 217. 
Type-foundry, 194. 

V. 

Van Renssalaer, col. 245. 

Van Renssalaer, gen, 244, 245, 

246, 247. 
Van Wert, Isaac, 169. 
Veazy, col. 260. 
Vermont, 207, 208. 
Vespucci, Amerig-o, 17, 18. 
Virgmia, 21, 26, 35. 

W. 

Ward, gen. 99, 103, 108, 109. 
Warner, col. 103, 111, 141. 
Warren, adm. 249, 260. 
Warren, Dr.-& gen. 94, 105, 106. 



Warrington, capt. 275. 

Washingion, George, 82, 83, 84, 
85, 86, 107, lv;8, 109, 112, 113, 
114, 118, 124, 12.5, 126, 127, 
128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 134, 
135, 136, 137, 138, 140, 146, 
150, 166, 183, 185, 186, 189, 
190, 191, 192, 198, 199, 201, 
202, 203, 205, 206, 210, 211, 
212, 214, 215, 216, 228. 

W^ashinj^ion, Bushrod, 216. 

Washington, cny, 216, 280, 300. 

Washington, col 131, 173, 174. 

W^ayne, gen. lo5, 137, 138, 146, 
150, 181, 186, 209, 210. 

Weailjersfield, 52 

Wesi Point, 160, 290. 

AVheelright, Rev. Mr. 54. 

White col. 155. 

White Plains, 128. 

White, Rev, Mr. 48. 

Wilkinson, gen. 270, 271, 279- 

Williamsburg, 181. 

Williams, David, 169, 

Williams, Roger, 51. 

Winchester, gen, 250, 251. 

Winder, gen. 257, 277, 278, 279, 
280, 281, 282, 283. 

Winlhrop, gov. 50. 

Wolfe, gen 86. 

Woolman, John, 300, 

Wooster, gen. 108, 134j 

Y. 

Yeo, com. 258, 259. 

York, (Canada) 254, 255, 256. 

Yorktown, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185. 



THE END. 



